Esoterica
by Linvia7
Summary: The adventure of Touhoumon Puppet Play 1.8 Enhanced seen with the eyes of a naughty Sanae who gets dizzy spells which give her dangerous visions. No inappropriate themes involved; the rating is because the story involves (non-gory) death. Story begins like a normal one with several incidents culminating in a Kanto-scale crisis.
1. Prologue

**AUTHOR'S BEGINNING NOTES**

This is a story about Touhoumon, more specifically based on Touhou Puppet Play 1.8 Enhanced. Some elements are modified to make it suit more like a crossover, such as spell card rules for battles and various references (some characters are immortal, landmarks, etc.)

It would be advantageous if readers have some prior knowledge on Touhou Project (especially from Imperishable Night). Knowledge on Pokémon is not that necessary.

It is written if the point of view of a Sanae, first-person.

**DISCLAIMER**

Author only owns the human "Trainer", LaLaLa (Lanetta Lavender Laein).

Touhou Puppet Play 1.8 Enhanced belongs to Aichiya Sanae.

Touhou series itself belongs to Team Shanghai Alice.

Pokémon belongs to Nintendo / Game Freak.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

Kanto, present time.

In Pallet Town, there lived a renowned Pokémon Professor by the name of Oak. Professor Oak had hoped his two grandchildren, Gary and Daisy Oak, would assist him with his research, but they instead went their own paths as Trainers.

There also lived an aspiring young girl from the Laein family who lived next to the Oaks. Her name is Lanetta Lavender Laein, often nicknamed LaLaLa. Her parents are researchers who travel to other regions, so the 15-year old girl lived alone in Kanto since she was 10. Since she has nothing to do, she often stops by the Lab and helps Professor Oak with various tasks. She has one Pokémon, a Venusaur. She has not attempted the League Challenge yet (she was prohibited to because she is small and frail), so people would ask on how did she get that Venusaur. It was a parting gift from her parents.

One particular morning, Lanetta arrived to the Lab and did not receive errands as usual. Instead, Professor Oak discussed matters of the outside world, about the Touhoumon world and Bonéka. Bonéka are regarded as Pokémon in the fantasy Touhoumon world, and they take on forms of females. When Lanetta demanded the reason for that discussion, Professor Oak handed her a floating letter, which read:

_Dear Professor Oak,_

_There is an imminent danger waiting to threaten the Pokémon world. Many interferences have happened in the fabric of time and space, and it looks like that it someday will collide with another world. I believe you know about the world of Touhoumon. I would like you to prepare for this, which I believe will most likely involve the fantasy world. I have not the time when the worlds will collide, however, I request that you prepare as soon as possible to minimize effects._

_-Z_

And alongside the letter, the letter envelope also contained a small piece of paper with a sentence written on it:

_Esoterica "Gray Thaumaturgy" ._

The Professor handed Lanetta the piece of paper and asked her to contemplate it.

That night, everyone in Kanto slept as usual. At midnight, however, flashes of lightning were seen even without any storm clouds. Then earthquakes occurred and brought the residents of Kanto into awakening, destroying many buildings in the process. Pallet Town did not shake that much, so the Lab and Lanetta's house were intact. They came out of their buildings and met a man floating on a white cloud. The man wore Japanese outfit and carried a purification rod. The man spoke in a foreign language which Professor Oak seemed to understand.

_Profesor, kejadian yang tertulis di surat sudah terjadi. Sebagai penjaga dunia Touhoumon aku memerlukan bantuanmu untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini. Kedua dunia sedang dalam kondisi labil dan satu-satunya cara untuk mengembalikannya adalah bila seseorang berhasil pergi ke dunia Genso dan meminta petunjuk pada dewa di sana. Untuk pergi ke dunia Genso diperlukan seorang anak muda yang dapat membuktikan kemampuannya mengendalikan makhluk lain._

The Professor then made a request to Lanetta; to embark on a journey at this time and tame Pokémon until she can beat the two Leagues in their reach, Kanto and Johto League. Professor Oak believed that if she can bear the two of them, the gods in Genso will consider her entry. The land of Genso is filled with gods and high-ranking fantasy animals from various myths. Upon hearing the request, Lanetta accepted it without questions. It had been her dream to go on an adventure since five years ago.

The following morning, Lanetta started her journey and went into the grass of Route 1, only to find that no Pokémon can be found...

* * *

Meanwhile, in the trees near Pallet Town, the man on cloud was speaking to a girl with green hair and blue-white outfit.

_Sanae, tolong awasi anak muda yang dikirim Profesor itu._

_Baik, Yang Mulia._

* * *

At the end of Route 1, a mysterious flash appeared, and a small girl in white and blue lied on the grass, surrounded by a white star.

* * *

**A/N **The Touhou residents should speak in Japanese, but I can't. So I made them speak Bahasa Indonesia instead. LOL.

Comments, anything - throw them at me! We will see what can I do about them. Next chapter coming this week!


	2. Meeting with a Gray Thaumaturgy

**A/N **Beginning Sanae POV. Sanae is a Bonéka in Lanetta's team, so the story will become different than most stories (just like what I wanted ^^)

Bonéka can speak both human language and their own language. (expect more Bahasa Indonesia in the story!)

And never mind if you can't read Bahasa Indonesia because there will always be equivalent sentences in English (albeit more simple).

* * *

...

"So, Lord ZUN has sent me here... I guess?"

I muttered to myself while lying down on a patch of grass. I have never felt grasses before, and I liked it. It was soft and pleasant. The green color matches my hair perfectly. The blue sky above me was clear and I saw the shining sun.

Then I wondered:

_Wait, why am I here on the grass? Where did Lord ZUN go? And to think about it further, who is this Lord ZUN whom I said earlier? Why do I feel like I have forgotten everything? I'm confused!  
_

I decided to sit down on the soft grass. They were squashed and released water, which dampened my blue skirt. I looked at a white star on the grass. It was impregnated on the grass - I could not rub it off. Even when I pull one of the grass out of the ground. Looking at it made me think of something.

_Sanae, Sanae, Sanae..._

Then I began hearing that word on my mind. Is my mind playing some tricks on me?

After a few seconds I got tired with the word and tried to ignore that voice on my mind. But my mind did otherwise - it made me remember something.

"Sanae... I have ever heard that word... It's used to call someone with green hair and wearing blue-white outfit..." I mumbled.

I looked at my body. Then I realized - my hair is green, and my clothes are blue and white! Just like the person called Sanae!

"Sanae... that is me! How could I forget my own name? Am I dreaming or something?"

I pulled my frog-shaped hairpin without opening its latch, so some hair falls out with the pin as I placed it on the ground.

"Ouch! This hurts, so it's not a dream..."

I was pulling out the hair stuck on my hairpin when I heard footsteps coming from the south. I started to panic. This world is so weird, and I did not remember any way to defend myself nor any spell cards which I often used in Gensokyo.

_What if it's a man who wanted to strip me off? What if it's a monster? What if..._

I saw a thin and frail girl approaching me. She wore a large beige foam hat with a white ribbon tied on it and a knee-length brown dress with a big white ribbon on the midsection tied up on the back.

_It's a girl, at least... not some devil. _I stood up, my flaming emotions have been extinguished.

The girl looked very tall; she made me think that I shrunk. After a minute, i noticed I _did_ shrunk. I came into this world in chibi form, just like a little girl.

"Who are you? Are you lost?" The girl in brown asked me.

"My name is Sanae. I cannot say that I am lost because this world is entirely something I don't know! What should I do?" I replied, locking my green eyes with her brown ones.

"Calm down, girl. This world is strange to me as well. There should be many Pokémon here, but today there's none... and I met you." The brown older girl spoke. She appeared to have a lot of knowledge but looked as confused as I am.

"Pokémon? What is that?"

I have never heard such a strange name. Even if I first lived in the outside world, I do not know what that is.

'Pokémon are animal-like creatures which live in various areas like this plainsland. They are contained in devices like this ball. Here is one example of it..." The young girl tossed a ball in red-white with a button on the boundary between the red and the white, but nothing happened.

"I see nothing..." I replied confusedly. There was not a single thing coming out of the ball thrown from the hand of the girl.

"Strange. Venusaur should come out, but it doesn't. Has this Poké Ball turned empty?" The girl in brown muttered to herself, I can barely hear her. Two more strange terms have come into my mind, but I decided to just swallow them up so I won't add to the confusion present in the atmosphere.

"This may be weird, but do you happen to know about this, Sanae?" The girl unfolded a piece of paper and showed it to me. It read

_Esoterica "Gray Thaumaturgy" ._

I thought for a bit. Something in my mind shouted: _I know this. _Come on, my mind... tell me something about this!

"Does it ring a bell?" The brown girl asked.

I wanted to answer, but I couldn't. I started to feel dizzy.

_Oh no, it's this dizzy spell again._

I often experience dizzy spells - they gave me visions of many things. But they usually make me lose my guard during battles. This is so unfair because my fellow Sanae do not have it.

_I see myself, performing some sort of ritual and creating two star-shaped arrangements of bullets. They become many stars and separate, becoming a sea of round bullets._

Now I remember - this is one of my spell cards - Esoterica "Gray Thaumaturgy" !

I also remembered everything, from Lord ZUN to all my spell cards.

"Hello? You looked spaced out. You all right, Sanae?" The girld waved her hand at me.

"Come here. I will show you what that sentence means." I dragged her into a place without grasses.

I did what I saw - I created bullets, which I called 'danmaku'. Before duplicating the stars, I declared the spell card.

"Esoterica 'Gray Thaumaturgy'!"

The bullets moved precisely as I saw, so that was right.

"Wow... it's amazing! You're even more powerful than Pokémon! What are you?" The tall girl clapped.

Then Lord ZUN came. The title "Lord" is not taken as a formal one - it is merely because he guards our world. So I do not have to pay respect to him.

Lord ZUN spoke to the girl.

_This girl here is a_ _Bonéka. Due to the world collision, every creature other than humans has become __Bonéka._ _Bonéka can evolve and grow as well, so your adventure will not be a complete lost case. The ball you throw will become a capsule for containing_ _Bonéka when it hits them. These special balls are termed Miko orbs.  
_

_As Professor told you, you need to defeat others who train_ _Bonéka and ultimately the two Leagues he mentioned.  
_

Then Lord ZUN left.

"So, I can throw this ball like usual?" The brown girl asked.

"Yep!" I replied with a wide smile.

"I have always wanted to go on an adventure! Will you join me? Please?" She kneeled and stroked my hair.

_I have nothing to do and nowhere to go, so I guess I'll just tag along. But, first things first, I need to know my companion!_

"Sure! But, ummm... I think I need to know your name first." I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I am Lanetta Lavender Laein." She shook my hand.

So her name is Lanetta. That is a Western name, so I need to call her with the name she spoke first. Not like my name, Kochiya Sanae. My first name is mentioned last.

Then she threw the Miko Orb to me, and I was captured in there. It was very comfortable!

"Lanetta, I like being here, but can I walk with you? I want to see everything in this world." I said to her from the Miko Orb.

She sent me out and I walked together, holding her long arm. I could only hold her palm, because I was small. _I wonder when will I grow into my original height._

* * *

We traveled into a big city. Lanetta said it is called Viridian City. The city was surrounded by trees and had several buildings. We stopped in a large orange building and entered it.

"Welcome to the Bonéka Center!" A human in red and blue and a small Bonéka with the same outfit greeted us.

I know that Bonéka - that is a chibi Eirin. Eirin is a pharmacist and very skilled in wielding bows. But who is that human? I have never met her. She looks a bit like Eirin though...

"Hello, Nurse Joy-" Lanetta greeted that human, but was interrupted.

"Oh, where are my manners? Since the drastic change in this world, I have given a change in name. Now you can call me and my sisters Nurse Ei. Pleased to help you!" The human approached Lanetta and shook her hand.

"Ummm, your sisters?" I asked Nurse Ei in confusion.

"In nearly every city, you'll find a building like this, called the Bonéka Center. It is managed by a sisterhood of nurses with the family name Ei, so everyone calls us Nurse Ei." The nurse smiled. She showed me a photo of about fifteen nurses wearing her outfit and several Eirin.

"And we Eirin assist them in curing Bonéka injuries and illnesses." Eirin shook my hand as well.

"Also, here is my friend. She is a type of Bonéka called Eirin, but I nicknamed her Medicine." Nurse Ei introduced the Eirin to Lanetta.

_Medicine Melancholy? _I giggled to myself. The Eirin noticed me and giggled as well.

_"Mengapa namamu Medicine? Seperti youkai beracun saja." _

_"Karena dulu aku membunuh Medicine dengan racunnya sendiri, malangnya Medicine tersebut adalah milik Trainer, dan..." _

I can see round teardrops at the corner of her eyes.

_"Baik, jangan diteruskan. Nanti memori buruk keluar lagi."_

Lanetta overheard our chat. "What are you talking about?"

I replied "Her nickname. Medicine is another type of Bonéka, you see. She once killed a Medicine using its own poison..."

"And that Medicine belonged to a trainer. So, to prevent any more death like that, I nicknamed her Medicine." Nurse Ei continued.

"Oh, that's a sad story. By the way, Nurse Ei, I want to ask you how do I get a Trainer License..." Lanetta asked the nurse.

The nurse smiled and answered, "Do you have an Artbook? If you have, you can directly go to the Bonéka Academy behind this Bonéka Center, and have your Artbook registered. An Artbook is a device filled with information on Bonéka."

"Is this an Artbook? A device which can record Bonéka data?" Lanetta took out a brown device which looked like a book, only it was electronic.

"Yes, it is! You can register right now. Look for the teacher, she is dressed in blue. But, before that, why don't you take a rest here? You look like you have walked quite a distance." The nurse showed us the way into a lounge decorated with orange wallpapers and carpets.

"Ah, I was so excited that I forgot to rest. Silly me." Lanetta scratched her head as she walked to an empty sofa. I followed her.

_She really is excited about adventures. Was she locked in her home every day? I don't know what it feels to be locked. Solving incidents and helping Lady Kanako and Suwako gather faith make me go out every day.  
_

We sat on the comfy orange sofa. It was so large that Lanetta lied down there comfortably. She almost fell asleep.

"Um, Lanetta?" I tugged her arm.

"Yes?"

"What made you so excited? Are you locked in your house every day?"

"I locked myself... kind of. My parents are researchers and they have lived in other regions since five years ago... And they banned me from adventuring because I was so thin and not that strong." Lanetta explained sadly.

"O-okay..." I replied. I did not know what to say. I'm not a strong girl myself, but maybe being an Arahitogami (a human who became god while still living) made the situation different. Speaking of gods, would my miracles work here? Maybe I would find out the answer later.

Just as I was beginning to lie down on the couch I noticed a small piece of paper on the table in front of it. I grabbed it and read the sentence written on it.

_Wriggle Sign "Nightbug Tornado"_

Wait. That type of writing was the form used to declare a spell card. This certainly was like the paper Lanetta showed me back in that plainsland. From the elements of the spell card, I deduced that it most likely belonged to an insect youkai. What's her name...

"Ok, Sanae, let's get going... Wait. Is that another piece of paper? It's like the one on Route 1." Laneta jumped out of the couch and looked at me and the piece of paper.

_So that place is called Route 1._

"Yes, like the one you showed me. This one most likely belonged to an insect youkai. If I only remembered her name..."

"What's a youkai?"

I remembered that two foreign terms again. Never mind, I won't ask of it.

"A youkai is anything other than human. Simply put." I tried to explain the term as simple as possible. It was not that correct, but she would learn more by meeting other Bonéka, I guess.

"I guess this means I'll get another companion! Yay!" The brown girl jumped up and down in excitement.

_She's too big for jumping around, I guess... what's her age? I mean, other people are looking at her in disbelief that a teen can still jump around like that._

I followed her out of the building, where we walked together along the smooth concrete streets into a blue building with the sign "Bonéka Academy" on it. Inside the building were children and teenagers sitting on seats, looking on the blackboard. The blackboard was full of simple notes about various things. A teacher wearing a blue dress was tidying up another desk beside the whiteboard. For some reason the teacher was similar to a Bonéka named Keine.

_Well, Keine is a teacher. Maybe I'll meet a Keine or two here..._

"Excuse me, miss... my name is Lanetta. I'm looking for a teacher in this school, would you happen to be a teacher here?" Lanetta spoke to the teacher.

"Oh, yes! Please call me Miss Shira. I run this school. What do you need?" The teacher stopped tidying and faced Lanetta and I.

_Now that I see her face, she does look like a Keine! With that shade of gray on her hair and blue eyes..._

"Miss, I need your help to register as a Trainer. What do I have to do?" Lanetta started to get into the point.

"Oh, you've come to the right place! Just fill this form and we'll connect your Artbook to the database. May I see your Artbook and your first Bonéka?"

"Here is my Artbook. As for my first Bonéka... she's here." Lanetta pushed me to her front so the teacher can see me. I was unseen due to being in chibi form and Lanetta's tall body simply obscured me from the teacher's view.

"Wow, a Sanae! Sanae are hard to find. Trainers with rare Bonéka will usually have strange but exciting journeys. Now, after the form is filled, let's connect your Artbook to the database... done. Now you're an official Trainer!"

"Finally I can be a Trainer for so long!" She exclaimed. Luckily she did not jump around again.

"Miss, what makes a Trainer different from other people with Bonéka?" I asked this. It's now of all times, but I want to know what makes her so excited being a Trainer.

"A Trainer goes to an adventure to explore all of the region and collect League Badges. Their final goal is to reach Bonéka League and defeat the Elite Four and the Champion in Bonéka battle. Trainers nickname their Bonéka partners and care for them. They catch other Bonéka in the wild as well."

_And Miss Shira talks like a Keine as well. Such detailed and long explanation!_

For some reason I sense that I was fated to meet and befriend a Keine someday. Either it's just my Arahitogami part tingling, or it may be something else.

The three of us went out together. "Take care, Lanetta! Have a beautiful journey!" Miss Shira waved to us.

"Before we go, let's revisit the Center!" My brown partner exclaimed and ran into the Bonéka Center.

"Here she goes again..." I followed her with a sigh. _I guess she has not seen the prankster in me, because she acts so carefree. Anyway, sooner or later she will know about it._

I saw Lanetta crash into the door of the Center. The door flew open and many others looked at her confusedly. I sighed. _Why am I stuck with such a whimsical girl..._

But really, I shouldn't be saying that. Then I feared that she would not respond well to my pranks. Like, being a prankster was my calling. But there was no one in the party right now, so I would have to wait until Lanetta gets that insect youkai in the team...

"Oh, welcome back! Have you registered?" The nurse greeted her well despite the ruckus she caused by crashing into the Center.

"Yes!"

"Before you go, why don't you nickname your Bonéka? She looks bored there, behind you. Bonéka likes nicknames."

"Nicknames?" She turned to me. "Then, what do you want to be called?"

"You decide, you're the Trainer after all!" I replied loudly.

"Ah, I don't know! I'm not good at naming!" She became frustrated.

"Just use a spell card name or something..." The nurse shouted from her counter.

"Spell card? ...Oh, I got it! I'll call you Esoterica then!"

_Maybe I should cast Esoterica "Gray Thaumaturgy" on her someday. Wait, that would be impolite._

"Well then, after this, where will we go?"

"Looking at the map, we'll go to another city named Pewter City next. There, we will challenge the Gym."

'A Gym challenge? We compete in muscle mass?" I imagined bulky men inside the building who would squish us girls flat.

"No, not _that_ Gym! We do Bonéka battles there. But before the city is the Viridian Forest. And the forest is big."

"Okay..." I was glad that we wouldn't compete in muscle. "When will we go?"

"Right NOW!" Lanetta exclaimed loudly and ran towards the Center door.

"Again..." I walked with a droopy gait. I kept following her. She headed straight toward another plainsland. When I left the city, I read the signpost 'Route 2' before the plainsland. I kept walking without spirit and only paid attention to the smooth asphalt road until I heard a scream.

"aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

_That. Surely. Is. Lanetta. Screaming._

_What made her scream like that?_

I straightened my head, only to see Lanetta cornered on a tree by a chibi insect youkai wearing a black cape and white shirt, who was drawing out a spell card, and the youkai shouted

"Wriggle Sign 'Nightbug Tornado'!" ...

* * *

**A/N** I am completely guilty of procastination even in holidays, so please forgive me for the delay. It has something to do with real life...

And I wanted to clarify that Genso and Gensokyo are different. Gensokyo is where the Touhou residents belong. As for Genso... I'd be leaking out spoilers if I explained it now. ^^

This is an alternate universe to both Pokémon and Touhou Project.

Feel free to comment on everything about this story!


	3. Tornado of the Bug of Light

**A/N **Writing as a Sanae really is hard... I mean, should I detail when she does things such as taking a shower?**  
**

Sorry for the extremely long delay. I honestly prefer writing to typing.

The original playthrough has far more catches and battles. To keep things clean, I'll only elaborate on the crucial Bonéka. They are the ones I primarily use in the game, but in the end only about fifteen will be in the story. And yes, they are mostly my favorites.

Bonéka have sixth sense - they can instantly determine the stage other Bonéka belong to and the difficulty of spell cards. But they do not know every Bonéka in the universe - in this story Ten Desires Bonéka are more secluded and do not know much about the others, and vice versa. Bonéka from Double Dealing Character and Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom will not be encountered before a certain point in the story.

* * *

"Lanetta!"

I ran as fast as my little feet could carry me. Luckily it wasn't far, because I have low endurance. I would not be able to fight if it was just a little farther because I would need to stand still for a moment. My legs cannot run very fast and far at the same time.

The youkai noticed me running, though. She turned to me whilst keeping her bugs surrounding the terrified Lanetta, and shouted

"Do you despise us insects as well? I shall teach you a lesson then!" She clearly was angry.

She summoned MORE bugs. I sighed. Wriggle Sign "Nightbug Tornado" was a Lunatic level spell card, which is never easy to dodge, even for a Stage 1 character like her.

_Wait. Stage 1, insect youkai... I got her name. Wriggle Nightbug. I'll have to persuade her to stop. But to do that, I must brave through the insects. If some wind can blow them out of my way..._

Wind. I am a wind priestess. I was not sure if my own wind is strong enough to blow all the bugs, however. I closed my eyes.

_Lady Kanako, even if you're not here we're still connected. Please lend me a sliver of your strength, just enough to calm the raging bug storm..._

I took out a spell card. Then I stretched my arms forward and a slight breeze started to blow.

"Miracle 'God's Wind'!" I declared it. Oval green danmaku rushed out from my hands in the shape of a hollow circle. Then the breeze intensified and became a very strong wind, blowing the oval green danmaku straight to the insect swarm. The swarms were instantly dissipated by my spell card. Even if I only used an Easy level card, it was enough since my level was a Stage 5 character.

But still, she still held Lanetta hostage. The wind was localized enough not to disrupt the insect cage which imprisoned my Trainer. I stepped forward to be able to converse to her.

"What do you want with me?" She snapped.

"You are Wriggle Nightbug, correct? Actually, my Trainer and I have been looking for one of your kin." I replied calmly.

Her expression turned from anger to surprise. Her antennae were twitching and she put her hands in the pockets of her baggy shorts to maintain her composure. But that didn't help.

"Why would a human look for my kin? Weren't humans the one who would kill us insects, especially youkai like us?" Her voice trembled. She immediately released Lanetta from the insect cage.

"Ah, finally!" Lanetta exclaimed.

"Next time, don't scream like that again!" I reprimanded her.

"I was afraid, you know!" She replied me. Then she turned to Wriggle. "I didn't mean to step on you at all! I'm sorry!"

_So she got careless and accidentally stepped on a Wriggle? That's a bit ridiculous since Wriggle is big enough... but never mind. She found a Wriggle at least._

"Wriggle, we wanted to find out what Bonéka uses this spell card. Our guess was your kin, and it was correct." I took out the small piece of paper and unfolded it so Wriggle can read the name of her spell card on the paper..

"This is certainly our spell card..." She spoke quietly in disbelief.

"Wriggle, is it? So, how do you say? Will you join us on an adventure?" Lanetta shook Wriggle's hand and smiled.

_Such amazingly fast emotion transition._

"You didn't fear us, and even asked for our company... it is something we can never turn down. I accept." Wriggle said humbly and bowed to Lanetta.

And so, Lanetta took out another Miko Orb and touched it to Wriggle. She was contained instantly.

"I got a new friend! Yay!" She struck a pose.

"Well, after all that's over with, next time, BE CAREFUL!" I wanted to yell at her since this morning, since I met her. It was afternoon by now. During our stay in the Center we were given some food which Lanetta kept. I guess it's time to open the lunch.

"Yes, yes, my darling Esoterica. Just calm down..." Lanetta sighed. She sat down and took out Wriggle from her orb.

"We're having lunch." She told Wriggle and I as she took out a small pot, some vegetables, and the food from the Center from her bag. No wonder her bag was huge for a small girl. She packed gear in it. "But I'm not the type of chef..."

_Excuse me? She lived alone, yet she can't cook? Now I'm confused._

"You can't cook? Then I'll cook." I offered her some help.

"Seriously? Thank you so much!"

"You really can't cook, Lanetta?" I shouted again.

"I can. But the meals will make you two bored." She sighed. "By the way, what would you like as a nickname, Wriggle?"

"Eh? A nickname?" Wriggle was confused. "I don't know... do Trainers even give nicknames to fireflies?"

I boiled the vegetables in the pot while listening to the whole nicknaming process. It was ridiculous. Lanetta finally decided to nickname her 'Firefly'. It makes sense, since Wriggle stated that she is a firefly youkai.

About the vegetables... well, they were fresh. But they wouldn't last long. I would have to ask about our supplies because we're going to TRAVERSE a large forest. And my sense of direction is... bad. Well, really bad. We could get lost for a week, I guess.

"This cooking is so good! We have never tasted this!" Wriggle applauded at my cooking.

"I agree!" Lanetta exclaimed. "By the way, why do you talk with 'we', Firefly?"

"We. I am always one with my insects. Only in certain circumstances you will hear the word I. Only when the insects cannot take part, such as making decisions." Wriggle showed her insect buddies to us. Contrary to our expectations, her buddies were cute. Well, not all of them were cute. Her spell cards summon dangerous killer bugs.

"I see. Then, shall we get going? I've got the dishes cleaned up. Oh, by the way, Lanetta, did you bring imperishable food with you? In case we get lost, the vegetation won't last long." I asked her while we all were standing up.

"Well, I brought some canned supplies so we should be fine." Lanetta shrugged. "I sure hope we don't get lost."

"The forest has fed us for many generations, dear Sanae. Do not worry about food nor getting lost. We know every depth of it." Wriggle reassured us.

"Then, LET'S GO!" Lanetta did an explorer's exclamation and ran off. My ears were left ringing. Some bugs fell from Wriggle, apparently dead.

"My friends died from the loud shriek..." She murmured. "Does she always scream like this?"

"I think she is a child with a mature body, something like that. Well, we better catch up before she got killed by a spell card." I shrugged.

"Spell cards are not designed to kill, did you forget?" Wriggle joked while she was flying ahead of me. I flew as well, but her having wings meant she would be faster.

_Doh. I forgot. That's why spell cards exist in the first place._

"Yes, yes, I forgot."

"When you enter the forest, turn right. The left is a dead end." Wriggle instructed.

We entered the forest and looked around to find our Trainer. But she was not in sight. Well, until we heard a scream.

"Hey! What do you want with me?"

The scream came from the deeper parts of the forest. Trees and vines stood between us and the scream's origin.

That clearly was Lanetta. _She got into troublesome Bonéka encounter again.  
_

"Is that her?" Wriggle asked.

"Yes, that's her! We must hurry!"I replied.

"Most likely she was being pranked by fairy Bonéka. All of the three live here."

_Sunny, Luna, Star. Those naughty fairies. I would rather befriend a Cirno than them. Or far better a Daiyousei.  
_

We flew about the thicket in about half an hour, dodging vines and avoiding attention from other Bonéka. Then we saw Lanetta and about ten fairy Bonéka, a complete mixture of Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire.

"Let's make her scream! We'll fire danmaku until she panics and falls!" One Sunny Milk shouted.

"Not if we fire first!" Wriggle and I shouted.

"Lamp Sign 'Firefly Phenomenon'!"

"Esoterica 'Gray Thaumaturgy'!"

We launched spell cards together. I heard Lanetta screaming in the middle of the sea of danmaku. And insects.

"DON'T KILL MEEEEEEE!"

She apparently didn't know that danmaku only hits those who the user considers as enemies. Wriggle and I paid no mind. _She'll realize that she will not die. Plus, spell cards do not kill._

When our spell cards timed out, all fairies but one Sunny and one Luna have run away. They looked bigger than the others.

"Hey! Don't interrupt our games, you shrine maiden who knew no fun!" The Sunny shouted.

"Could it be... that you are the Bonéka of this cowardly Trainer?" Luna bluffed. "I'll scare you two as well until you cry!"

"Flickering Light 'Fatal Flash'!"

"Moonlight 'Silent Cyclone'!"

_And now they counter with spell cards as well. _

"Lanetta, move! Stay close to that tree!" Wriggle pointed a large tree which was a bit far from the battle arena. She crept there slowly.

"Firefly Sign 'Meteor on Earth'!"

"Preparation 'Summon Takeminakata'!"

So each of us drew another spell card. But launching a spell card does not necessarily negate the opposing card. Which means we had to dodge as well. And dodging is never easy. We grazed everything until the cards timed out. When that happened, the fairies were gone.

_Still... spell cards will complete once declared. Even if the user flees mid-spell._

We hurried to Lanetta, who was dumbfounded.

"I didn't die?" She asked foolishly.

"Spell cards do not kill." Wriggle spoke softly. "Now, we will lead you to a short cut to prevent such uneventful incidents."

And Wriggle showed us a relatively quiet way. No paths, no markers, nothing. Just grass and tress. But it was decent enough to traverse. Wriggle was actually bringing us through the homes of other Wriggle. They greeted us warmly and did not stop us from moving forward.

_Wow, Wriggle are actually nice youkai. But they get vicious when insects are harmed.  
_

We went out relatively quickly. Lanetta's first response on seeing the sunset was to run as fast as she could through the linear road to another city.

"Let's get to Pewter City ASAP!" She yelled to us while running. Wriggle and I flew behind her at a slower pace. Well, we got tired from dodging.

Our Trainer stopped in front of an open gate and looked behind her. "Come on, you two!"

"How come such a small stature have great acceleration?" Wriggle asked her.

"I love running! Especially in caves! Woohoo!" She answered happily. "Why are you two so slow?"

"Because we had to drive those fairies away from you. You're such a danger magnet!" I answered, slightly annoyed. I couldn't help it, since I was tired.

"Sorry! I do realize I am a danger magnet! That is also why I was locked in!" Our Trainer gestured an apology.

Finally we entered the city. It was... plain. Full of rocks.

"This is Pewter City. It is famous for its its rocks. Tomorrow, we'll go into the Gym." Lanetta acted as our tour guide. "But for now... let's head to the Center and get some good rest!"

"A Gym? We will go bodybuilding?" Wriggle was shocked. "Will they let insects in?"

"It's called a Gym because Trainers train Bonéka there. Not muscle!" Our Trainer explained. "A Gym is led by a Leader. Trainers defeat Leaders and earn Badges to participate in the League."

"League? So, we compete with other Trainers?" I inquired.

"Yes, we compete. Inside the League are the Elite Four and the Champion, and a Trainer's ultimate goal when embarking on the League challenge is to defeat all of them. Embarking Trainers do not officially battle each other in the League, except on Tournaments the League hosts."

"How do people become Leaders and other important Trainers?" Wriggle continued.

We kept talking while walking to the Bonéka Center.

"The League can review a Trainer's progress anytime as they wish. They will call Trainers they deem worthy when a spot in the League needs to be filled. There will be a test before the League decides to welcome a new Trainer into their hierarchy."

"What does a Leader do besides battling?" I threw in another question.

"A Leader is in charge of the city's safety. They will be the first one to act when evil people make a ruckus in their territory." Lanetta ended her explanation.

We had entered the Bonéka Center. Lanetta approached the Nurse's counter. The Nurse gestured to one of the Eirin, and she led Wriggle and me to the Bonéka treatment room. We didn't suffer from much injuries, so the Eirin only applied an all-purpose lotion on us and one minute later we came back to the front. Our Trainer is talking to Nurse Ei.

"Anything else you would like?" The nurse asked._  
_

"I would like to rent a room here. Here is my Trainer license." Lanetta handed the license. The Nurse took it, scanned the card into a machine and returned the card back to Lanetta along with a card key.

"Here is your key. Enjoy your stay!" Nurse Ei smiled at us.

We went into the room. The walls were colored bright peach with a carpet of the same color covering the entire floor. There were three beds, a set of chairs, and a table. Beside the table was an open wardrobe.

"The Bonéka Center is so convenient!" Lanetta crashed onto one of the beds happily.

"Don't lie on the bed when you're still dirty!" I shouted.

"I'm too tired to take a shower! You or Wriggle can go ahead and use it!" She replied.

"I'll go in then. Wait, we were provided with spare clothes?" Wriggle glanced at the wardrobe.

"Yes. The Center checks the Bonéka a Trainer carries and tends to the needs of them as well, such as food and clothing. We can take the clothing with us if necessary for free of charge." Lanetta answered while half-asleep.

"FOR FREE?" I was shocked. _What on earth is this facility, providing so many things for free?_

"Yes, for free. They are funded by the League. The League gets its funding from taxes it collects from Trainers and others. This is to ensure Trainers can go on their adventure without worries. Well, basically the League is the government of everything. A good government takes care of the needs of its residents, right?"

_So that's why. They wanted to keep Trainers happy and encourage new ones._

I waited for Wriggle to finish her shower. Lanetta had fallen asleep, I guess. I would wake her up after I got myself clean.

_Such a whimsical mix of personalities. But at least she cares about her team. I can't say that I regret being her Bonéka._

"We're done~" Wriggle came out with a fresh breeze and wearing a clean set of clothes.

"Where did you put your old clothes, Wriggle?" I asked.

"Well, there's a hole with a sign "Bonéka Laundry" in the bathroom. I put my clothes in there and there was some washing sound playing after that."

_I hope that our clothes are not exchanged for other Bonéka's clothes now.  
_

"Oh, okay then. I guess I'll clean myself up as well." I grabbed the clothes on the wardrobe and entered the warm room.

The bathroom was pleasant and very bright. Directly from the entrance was a white sink and a toilet bowl beside it. To the left was a shower room. The hole Wriggle mentioned was to the right of the sink. Above it was a towel rack.

So, without further ado, I took off my clothes, put them into the hole, and splashed myself with the water from the shower. Then I dispensed some soap from the soap dispenser and proceeded to wash off all the dust from my body.

Some more warm water splashes and I was done. So I put on the new set of clothes and came out. Lanetta was awake, even before I approached her.

"You're going to pull a sleeping me to the shower if I don't wake up." She muttered sleepily. "After this, let's go to the dining hall."

Wriggle was wriggling around on the white bed. "This is so soft~"

"Did you wake her up?" I asked her.

"No, we were just lying around on this soft, comfy bed. We thought that she woke up by herself after realizing that it was dinnertime."

"Yep, I'm hungry!" Lanetta opened the door for a split second before taking her shower.

A few minutes later and she was out with water dripping from her hair.

"Let's eat!" She approached us and held our hand with each of hers. then she dragged us out to the dining hall. It was just a straight road from our room.

In the dining hall were many people and Bonéka. Most of the Bonéka were chibi forms of Reisen and Alice, but no Sanae.

_The phenomenon is, everyone starts with either Alice or Sanae or Reisen. But I guess I got unlucky and became the only Sanae here._

An Alice was trying hard to stop her Trainer, who has gone insane and kept kicking her. Several other Alice helped restrain the crazed Trainer with their little dolls. The Trainer was near a Reisen who seems to be exerting its power of lunacy. Other Reisen were trying to communicate to her, but they couldn't stop the Reisen from using her power.

"What's happening there? It looks like a ruckus." Lanetta shouted to the crowd. "Do you need help?"

"Yes, please! My Reisen tends to go out of control, and now she inadvertently turned that Trainer insane. Please help!" A boy yelled back.

"The easiest way is to knock out the Reisen, sadly..." Wriggle replied.

"Um, I'm sorry about this, but I guess we need to knock out your Reisen first." Lanetta closed in and told the boy.

"If that's the only way, so be it. Everyone, please knock my Reisen out!" The boy shouted.

"Understood!" The other Trainers replied.

_Maafkan kami, sebagai Alice kami lemah terhadap atribut Reisen. _

_Kamu adalah Sanae, atributmu kuat terhadap Reisen. Kami mohon kamu dapat mewakili kami!_

Several Alice screamed in Bonéka language.

"What do they say?" Lanetta asked me after ordering Wriggle to get in position.

"Reisen has a type advantage over Alice. And I have a type advantage over Reisen. So I'll attack!" I replied while launching gusts of wind.

_I need to fight a moveset battle. Every attack has a type, and it should have a name. Back then, Lord ZUN said that this was similar to battles from Lanetta's original world... I'll ask her later. I don't really think she know..._

"Reisen, Pound!" A Trainer commanded his Reisen. The Reisen charged and punched the troublesome Reisen in the face. The hit Reisen seemed in a trance, not replying or countering.

_This is similar to my visions. She has a special ability, but she has not understood it. I know of other cases back then..._

"Firefly, Quick Attack!" Lanetta commanded. Wriggle charged the Reisen and returned in the blink of an eye.

"Good, Firefly! To finish, Esoterica, Gust!"

"Hyah!" I created more gusts according to her commands. _She knew about this. I should not have doubted her._

The gusts hit the poor bunny and she was down. The insane Trainer was freed and collapsed due to fatigue.

"We did it!" The Trainers exclaimed. One of them hurried to contact Nurse Ei. Shortly, the collapsed Trainer and Reisen were wheeled into treatment rooms.

"Don't worry, they will be fine in a few hours. Good job to you all, because these cases are elusive and dangerous for first-time Trainers. Now, please enjoy the cuisine." An evolved Eirin smiled at everyone on the room as she pushed the beds to the treatment room.

The Trainers and their Reisen and Alice started to swarm over the table and helped one another fill their plates. We joined them, of course. I filled my plate with all kinds of stir-fried meats and vegetables. Wriggle placed a lot of vegetables on her dish. Lanetta heaped up a lot of things which I don't know what. She just mixed up every single kind of food available._  
_

_The food here is delicious. I wonder who is the chef here..._

After the satisfying meal, we joined a chat between all the Trainers.

"Luckily you came with a Sanae. At early levels, type advantage really is important in battles. I don't know how should I thank you." The owner of the special Reisen spoke to Lanetta.

"You don't have to thank me, it's a responsibility for Trainers to help others out!" Lanetta replied.

"No problem, it was good experience!" I chimed in as well. "By the way, your Reisen can actually utilize that for good. But she needs to find out how."

"How is that possible?" The boy sounded confused. "All she does is make another person or Bonéka crazy!"

Another Reisen spoke up. "There is a phenomenon among us Reisen called Lunacy Tuning, and not all Reisen have it. That Reisen has it, though. Basically her power of lunacy is enhanced when Lunacy Tuning activates. But we chibi Reisen often do not know how to control its activation. We need to find out the way by ourselves, and sadly, even an evolved Reisen cannot help with it."

The boy's eyes were glittering after he heard such a thorough explanation.

"How can I help my Reisen with it?"

This time, an Alice spoke up. "Trainers help by observing and planning strategies for it. Then they make training sessions and increase the bond between them. It basically is just like how we Alice fight with our dolls."

"Sometimes the answer hides in the bond between Bonéka and their owners. It depends on the Bonéka, some require you to love them and some require you to hate them. There are Bonéka who feed on the contrary and grow closer to their Trainer in that hard way." Lanetta added.

The boy then stood up. "I'm going to help my Reisen!" And he ran off.

Then people started to leave the dining hall after tidying up their tables.

"Let's go back." Lanetta held Wriggle's and my hand together. We returned to our room. And guess what, Lanetta directly fell asleep.

"Wow." Wriggle whispered to me.

"I guess we should do the same." I replied.

* * *

**A/N **Once again I apologize for the terrible delay! Especially since I just transitioned from high school. Please bear with me! I promise myself I will complete this fanfic to the end.

Next chapter will be about the first gym challenge and onward to Cerulean.


	4. Trauma of a Terrible Souvenir

**A/N** First gym battle. It's fairly simple, and we get to see a new member after this. I don't like Brock swooning over women, so I kind of tweaked that out. We'll see what happens. Brock's going to be a bit OOC here, I apologize.

As always, I'll try my best to update faster. And I started using the word Puppets more, simply because it is more friendly to readers and I am too lazy to paste the accent e. There will be more instances of Puppet language, though.

And I tweaked Suika's drink because of fanfic rating. Also, to keep things short, Sanae forgets the ordinary battles very easily, so only important battles are detailed.

* * *

I opened my eyes to the slowly intensifying rays of the rising sun. Wriggle had gotten ready for our agenda today, as I could see water dripping from her green, short hair. As for Lanetta... she was still asleep.

_Never mind. I'll wake her up after I use the shower!_

And so, I went into the shower and woke up my half-asleep body with cool water. When I got out, I found Wriggle trying to wake Lanetta up.

"Lanetta, we're ready, so if you would please wake up... I want to battle..." Wriggle pulled on her dress.

_Wriggle's so excited..._

"I don't think she will wake up if you speak that softly." I replied bluntly to her.

"Then, will this work?" Wriggle summoned two beautiful butterflies which circled on Lanetta's face.

"Buzzzzzzzz..."

Lanetta opened her eyes slowly. "What's that bug... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Waking up to large, pretty butterflies certainly wasn't the best idea. But Wriggle nailed it.

"Gosh, next time, don't wake me up with that unorthodox method! I almost died!" She screamed.

"The bugs don't eat humans... you won't die." Wriggle helplessly replied.

"You realize our Trainer is easily shocked, right..." I tried to explain some sense into Wriggle.

Lanetta tried to get out from the bed normally, but she was still shocked that she jumped onto the floor and landed with a spectacular crash.

"Lanetta! This is not a swimming pool!" I yelled at her.

Wriggle helped her get up. Luckily, she suffered no injuries. I didn't want our plans for today to be ruined due to this awkward morning.

"First, I apologize for being late! Second, I know you two are raring to go, so please let me get ready!" Lanetta exclaimed to us, and went to take a morning shower.

_She's not late. It's just us being overly excited for a serious battle. Fighting that fairy ambush was a lot of experience._

A few minutes later, our Trainer got ready. We walked out of our room and stopped by the dining hall for breakfast.

"Before anything, we need some nutrition punch!" Lanetta exclaimed. "Don't you agree, girls?"

Wriggle nodded enthusiastically. I gave her a thumb up.

The menu was all about bread, so we had fun creating various sandwiches and sharing them together. We used toppings from eggs to yogurt (Lanetta decided to put yogurt instead of mustard on hers, and it was actually delicious).

After the light but filling meal, we walked out to the Gym and Lanetta told us about the Gym Leader. His name was Brock, and he was a very nice person with very narrow eyes.

The Gym was beautifully sculpted from rocks, and the interior was also rocky. There were rock walls to climb, sand pits to travel through, and various spots for rock smashing. Nobody was inside at the moment, except for a chibi Suika, a chibi Yuugi, and a young man wearing clothes similar to a mine worker. They were busy tidying up rocks.

"Good morning, Trainer! Are you here for a challenge, or for some training?" The young man greeted us from above. He was standing on a huge, flat rock.

The two Puppets approached us happily. "Welcome to Pewter Gym!" They said in unison.

"Hello, Brock! I didn't think I would meet you again after the meeting with Professor Oak, but here I am, as a challenger. I hope you remembered me!" Lanetta greeted the man back.

The man matched Lanetta's description: short frizzy hair and very narrow eyes. He looked a bit surprised at first, but he quickly regained composure. "Ah, Lanetta, is that correct? Of course I would remember a potential legend in Pokémon research. Well, maybe Bonéka research now. I'll accept your challenge in just a minute, after the Oni and I are done preparing the training grounds."

_Training grounds? So we don't just battle here?_

"Okay then, take your time, Brock! I want to see the features of this Gym too." Lanetta then took off and circled through the area.

"Excuse me sir, what are you doing with the rocks here?" Wriggle questioned all the cracked rocks in the vicinity.

"You seeeee, thissss issss annnn Eaaaarth Gyyymmmm..." The chibi Suika tried to explain. The chibi Yuugi put her hands on the Suika's mouth and she stopped speaking in that weird sleepy, lethargic voice.

"Let me explain it for you! This Gym is an Earth Gym. Earth type Puppets have strong physical attributes. In a Gym, people and Bonéka train and challenge the Leaders. We are simply preparing the training grounds as the first thing we do for the day. Here, Trainers can simulate the battle by breaking rocks and traveling through soft ground." Yuugi enlightened us.

"Such great explanation, Yuugi! Have you finished tidying up the rock beds on the lower parts?" Brock shouted from above.

"Just a little more and we'll be done, sir! You may open the battleground now." Yuugi shouted back. "But Suika's getting a bit overdosed on coke and is on a sugar drop, will you let her battle like that?"

"Heey, I'mm starrting tooo get settleeedd... Doon't mind meee~" Suika finally spoke up after Yuugi removed her hand.

"Don't worry, our challenger is skilled enough to handle her fists, I'm sure of it! No harm will be done." Brock reassured his Puppet. "The battleground's open, girls! Now you can climb up. I want to see your lovely spirits!"

With a press of a large button on the wall, an enormous mat opened up from the cliff Brock was standing on. He scooted over to avoid getting slammed by the mat, and a referee came down from a flight of stairs which opened up from the cliff behind this one, which was even taller.

Lanetta located the stairs to the battleground after circling around the Gym, and took Wriggle's and my hand. We stepped on the stairs together. At last, we reached the battleground, which had a distinct Miko Orb pattern; red on Brock's side and white on our side.

_This is our debut. Turns out the atmosphere in the Gym is very nice, and the Oni Puppets who will fight us are also very nice. I thought the people here will be cruel._

"Let us begin. Challenger, please state your name and the Puppets who will battle. You are allowed a maximum of 2 Puppets." The referee greeted us, holding some paperwork on his left hand and a pen on his right.

"Very well. I am Lanetta Lavender Laein. I will battle using a chibi Sanae and a chibi Wriggle." Lanetta started.

"All right, I will explain the battle rules before we start. This Gym battle will be a moveset battle. Puppets are allowed to use their moves as much as they like until all Puppets from one side have been knocked out. If Lanetta defeats all of the Leader's Puppets, she will obtain the Boulder Badge. If she loses, she may challenge again after one week from her loss." The referee continued after writing down details on his papers.

He paused for a moment. "Are both sides ready?" He asked.

"Yes!" Both Brock and Lanetta exclaimed, and we Puppets took stances beside our Trainers.

"Then, let the battle commence!" The referee lifted his right hand.

"All right Suika, let's begin!" Brock commanded. The almost sugar-crashed Oni flew into the battle area. "Yesss, sir!"

"Firefly, let's go!" Lanetta replied in earnest. "On it!" Wriggle stretched her four wings and buzzed straight towards the arena.

_Our situation is kind of funny. Wriggle has the type advantage but no moves to utilize it. I have a Native move, though. Let's see what Lanetta plans to do. Since it's a moveset battle, we rely on her command._

"Let's get to the point Suika! Rock Throw!" Brock commanded.

"Firefly, Quick Attack!"

Wriggle zipped toward the Suika and hit her, launching the rock she was holding astray. The rock fell into the ground without harming anything.

"Thaaat's unfaair..." Suika screamed, rubbing her hit arm.

"Don't worry Suika! We'll get her next time." Brock tried to reassure her. Yuugi moved her hands as of cheering her fellow Oni. I kept watching Wriggle with intent.

"I guess we're off a good start! Another Quick Attack, Firefly!"

"Suika, let's do what you can. Seismic Toss!"

Wriggle connected her attack, but Suika got her in her arms and tossed her reaaaaaaaaally high.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Wriggle was too shocked to get her wings going. When she did, though, she had crashed onto the ground.

"Firefly, you all right? That's a high fall!" Lanetta shouted.

"Don't mind us, Lanetta! We're waiting for your next order!" Wriggle got up and buzzing.

"Suika, Minimize!"

"Sadly, we have a counter for that! Faint Attack!"

"Gyaaaaah!" The small Suika yelled in agony as her body was struck by a head-on crash from Wriggle.

"Suika, don't give up! Karate Chop!" Brock gave his command again. This time, her chop hit Wriggle's right shoulder pretty badly.

"Ouch!" Wriggle yelled.

"Firefly, just a little more! Faint Attack!" Lanetta commanded after seeing her Puppet flinch.

"Suika, Seismic-" Brock's words were cut short as Wriggle managed to tackle Suika with all her might.

"I'm soooorryyy siiiirrr..." Suika squealed in pain before she came crashing to the ground.

_Poor Suika._

The Referee lifted his right hand. "Suika is unable to battle!"

"Everything is still the same..." Lanetta commented on the referee's style.

"Why yes, the League decided nothing needed a change. All right Suika, you did well. I'll bring you to the bench." Brock lifted Suika out of the battleground and put her on the bench behind. That bench was exclusively placed for Puppets who were not battling, I think.

"Yuugi, you may enter." Brock spoke to the little Oni, who observed Suika for a bit and sighed in relief when Suika regained consciousness.

Yuugi ran towards the center of the battleground. "Great job there Wriggle. I'm looking forward to fight you, but I will leave that to your Trainer's discretion."

"Lanetta, may we switch? I think something's wrong with my shoulder..." Wriggle turned to Lanetta.

_Ouch, that must have hurt. She was struck on the shoulder joint, which is bone all over. Bones hitting bones will certainly hurt._

"Okay then. Esoterica, your turn!" Lanetta walked to pick Wriggle up, and I approached the battleground.

"We're sorry Yuugi... maybe we can spar some other time." Wriggle replied to the single-horned Oni while Lanetta was carrying her back.

"It's fine, Suika's hands are extremely solid. You'll want to get your shoulder examined." Yuugi smiled at her.

Brock returned to his position. "Let's resume, shall we?"

Yuugi and I faced each other. We greeted with a bow and took our position in the arena.

"All right Yuugi. Magnitude!" Brock started the command.

"Esoterica, use Nature Power!" Lanetta replied.

I couldn't dodge the magnitudes because it has good accuracy. So, i jumped in rhythm with the magnitudes. I launched balls of nature energy to Yuugi, and some of them hit. But then I tripped on the shaky ground and fell on my face.

"Umpfh!" I spat out some dirt in my mouth. I got up and saw Yuugi recovering from my attack.

"Yuugi, good! Now, let's do something else... Karate Chop!" Brock continued his command.

"Esoterica, Nature Power! You can't dodge her, so you need to make it even!"

_Yep. I can't dodge her. But I need to direct her attack to a part which does not cripple me much..._

I launched more nature energy and stretched my arm to take the chop Yuugi was throwing. Her chop hit, making me flinch. Then the balls of energy collided into her, and she fell to her knees.

_It's a super effective attack, so it should deal quite a lot of damage. And yes, the chop hurt. No wonder Wriggle was screaming._

"Oof!" Yuugi tried to get back up. I balanced myself and prepared to launch another command from Lanetta.

"Yuugi, can you still fight?" Brock asked his staggering Puppet.

"I can, sir! Just one moment...!" The Oni finally got up and lifted her arms into the air.

"Yuugi, Magnitude. Don't charge yourself into that nature attack again."

"Esoterica, we have no choice. Nature Power!"

"Lanetta, you sure I won't fall again?" I looked at her and replied. A few scratches were on my face and body due to the first fall and they would get worse If I fell again.

"I'm sorry, but this is the best course of action. I can't risk you pounding her in the midst of a magnitude, and you can't hit her with Gust."

I nodded and started creating the energy clusters.

Yuugi fired her magnitude. It was far more intense than the previous one. I couldn't concentrate to fire since everything was shaking. Finally I fired a Nature Power, but the magnitudes were so intense that I flopped and fell right on my back.

"Ouch, my back!" I screamed. The ground was still shaking, which worsened the pain I felt.

"Gosh, a Magnitude 10... Esoterica! You okay?" Lanetta yelled with a worried tone.

"Feel Yuugi's power! Yuugi, use Magnitude again-"

"Gaaaahhh!"

Yuugi cried loudly, presumably due to the Nature Power I fired to her. I couldn't see since the ground was wrecked and I couldn't get up yet. I kept attempting to get up. When I did rose to my feet, Yuugi was falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Yuugi is unable to battle!" The Referee laid his judgment.

_We did it. We suffered quite painful hits, but we won._

"Well, well. Yuugi, good job. We'll celebrate when you get better." Brock took Yuugi in his arms. Suika flew to see her friend's condition.

"Yaaaaaayyy! We won!" Lanetta did a victory dance. She then picked me up as well.

"Congratulations for your victory. Here is the Boulder Badge." Brock gave Lanetta a gray pin in the shape of an octagon. Lanetta put it in a special case she took out from her bag.

"It was a good battle, Brock. Thanks for the Badge!" Lanetta replied and bowed.

"Are you leaving soon? If possible, please stay for a moment for lunch. I will cook for every pretty and powerful ladies here!"

"No, we can stay for lunch. Are you serious you're going to cook, Brock?" Lanetta was surprised.

"Heeyy, our Trainneerrr cooookssss wondeeeerrrsss..." Suika apparently got drunk again.

"Well, yeah. If it's not good, you can blame it on me. Let's go upstairs." Brock led us into the tallest cliff, which has a door.

We followed his lead into a large, gray-painted dining room with rocky decorations and recipes on the wall directly inside the door. Each of us, including Suika and Yuugi, took a seat.

"It's an honor for me to serve authentic cuisine to these powerful ladies," Brock muttered, opening a large pot. Steam came out of the pot, signifying that it had just boiled. He took out bowls and began serving a thick, creamy stew. After all the bowls were on the table, he opened a large steamer and took out rice in smaller bowls. He proceeded to place the rice bowls on the large, round table.

Finally, he sat down and began. "Let's eat!"

All of us dug in. Brock made a traditional beef stew with potatoes and carrots. The stock was a perfect balance between sweet and salty, with the beef flavor as the dominant taste. He was an excellent cook, just like what the Puppets said.

"We have never tasted stew this good! We gladly offer our compliment!" Wriggle exclaimed.

"Wow, Brock, you weren't lying. This thing is delicious!" Lanetta seconded.

"How do you make this, Brock?" I decided to ask for the recipe because the others have stated that it was so delicious. It sort of drove away the fatigue from battle.

Suika and Yuugi were busy eating. Brock ordered Yuugi to take the recipe from the fridge, and she swiped it in a flash and gave it to me.

"Here is the recipe I use. You can sustitute the meat and vegetables, it works the same. Just make sure that the meats are well cooked before you add the veggies." Brock commented. Yuugi resumed eating.

_Wow, this recipe is so detailed. Brock even put both measurement units on it. And this must be his handwriting. He is a special guy._

"Thank you, Brock!" I replied. We finished eating and helped Brock with the dishes.

"Brock, we will be taking our leave now. Thank you for the hospitality!" Lanetta said her farewell.

"You are most welcome! I wish you luck for your adventure! Until we meet again!"

And so, we left and went into the Center to get a check-up after the battle. Lanetta waited in the lobby.

We were in a treatment room with three Eirin. First, I told the Eirin about the magnitude and how I (spectacularly) fell on my back. One chibi Eirin started working on me.

"Did you get hit by Karate Chop from the Leader's Suika?" One of the other Eirin in the treatment room questioned Wriggle.

"Yes..." Wriggle helplessly replied as the chibi Eirin used her healing power to fix Wriggle's shoulder. It must hurt so badly, since Wriggle, someone I know do not give in to pain easily, was almost crying.

"Wriggle..."

"Sanae, you don't seem to suffer from major injuries. Do you have any other complaints?" Another Eirin had finished treating my back, which was hit by a Magnitude 10.

Then I remembered something. It was about my dizzy spells. I was really clueless about that. I told the Eirin about it.

"Ah, that. You see, it's similar to us Eirin. She has our kin's power of healing, but I don't." Eirin pointed to her friend, who was trying to lessen Wriggle's suffering.

"So, does it mean that I have my kin's power? But why can't I use it?" I asked again.

"We don't really understand how Sanaes' power works, since few Sanae have it. It is called Bright Vision Stars. If it is Lunacy Tuning, we can offer advice on it, but I can't help you right now. I apologize."

_I don't even know that thing has a name. For Lunacy Tuning, since it is one of the most famous powers due to its abilities to turn minds insane, virtually all Puppets understand._

"Maybe you need to wait. The Great Sister will notice Puppets with difficulties regarding their powers. She will then direct the Puppet to develop it. At least, that is what happens to us Eirin." She continued.

"I'm sure that Bright Vision Stars is essentially the ability to see events from the future or near future. I once treated a Sanae in a different Center who was collapsing due to dizziness. We first thought of it as low blood pressure, but turns out it was just an instance when the Sanae had not mastered the ability." The Eirin who was healing Wriggle spoke up. Wriggle was not screaming anymore. "Unfortunately, it is as what my friend had said. To answer questions about Puppet powers, the one with the most answers is the respective Honored or Great Sister."

_This means I need to communicate with her. But I don't know how to... She has her own duties in Gensokyo which she can't neglect. That is one of the reasons why there are few Sanae Puppets. Maybe someday..._

The other Eirin then proceeded to treat our minor cuts and escorted us out to meet Lanetta.

"It was a bit long, is everything fine now?" Lanetta questioned us.

"For a new Trainer fighting the first Gym, your Puppets did not suffer much damage, Lanetta. A lot of Trainers lose a Puppet in the Gym." Nurse Ei smiled.

Lanetta's face was painted with horror.

"Lose a Puppet? You mean... a Puppet was killed, Nurse Ei?"

The Eirin spoke up. "Gym Leaders try their best to prevent deaths, but unfortunately, some Puppets received serious injuries and did not make it in time. Part of them were the result of accidents, but the rest resulted from the Trainer's negligence."

_So there are bad Trainers like that._

"By the way, Nurse Ei, other than serving the front line, what do the nurses do?" Wriggle popped a question.

"Wow, finally a Puppet asked about that. I am starting to think that Puppets only regard the nurses as frontline greeters. We nurses generally perform the greetings because Trainers feel more comfortable talking to humans than Puppets. Besides that, we check on the Puppets who are admitted into the inpatient section upstairs. Some Centers also provide medical service for Trainers; for example, this Center has several chambers for Trainers upstairs. Most importantly, we nurses are trained for emergencies. Our Puppets also handle emergencies, but some cases can traumatize Eirin. You will know more about this if you visit the Puppet Center in Three Island town on Kin Island." Nurse Ei gave an extremely long explanation.

"Oh, now we understand. But, even Eirin can be traumatized?" Wriggle looked surprised.

The Eirin Puppet clarified. "In Kin Island, the Hourai Puppets live there. They frequently execute forest attacks, and some attacks involve the native Eirin there. Many Eirin felt guilty after catalyzing a forest attack, and a lot of Eirin ended their lives."

Nurse Ei then continued, "The Nurse Ei on Three Island regularly scouted for those Eirin, and she will take them up to become Puppet nurses as atonement. Then, she will direct the Eirin to other Centers across Kanto and the Sevii Islands. The Nurse Ei on Three Island is known to the League as the greatest Nurse of all time."

After hearing that thorough explanation and thanking the nurses, we left the Center. Lanetta broughtus to the Supply Store to stock up supplies such as medicines and Miko Orbs.

"We're going through a tunnel in Mount Moon, so we should be prepared." She said, carrying the items outside to be sorted out in the bag.

"By the way, Lanetta, how do Trainers get money?" I questioned her whilst helping to sort the items.

"By defeating other Trainers. Brock gave me an envelope together with the badge. Winning a Gym battle gives a Trainer a substantial amount of money. If a Trainer loses, they pay money to the winner. But, the League does not charge losing Trainers. So, if we were to meet another Trainer and agreed to battle, if we lose, we pay them an agreed amount of money. But, if a Trainer lost against Brock, they will not lose money. Oh, yeah, at the beginning of the journey, Trainers are given some money together with their Trainer Card."

After that, we went to the market to stock up food for our journey. Lanetta predicted that we would reach the next city in a week or so. She bought a little more in case a new Puppet joined out team. She bought hardy vegetables and pre-cooked meats which could last on a journey.

While we were walking on the streets of the market, Wriggle found a piece of paper. The writing Recollection "Terrible Souvenir" was scribbled on it. She kept it in her pocket and planned to show Lanetta when they finished shopping.

"Okay girls, our shopping is done! Now, let's go! To Route 3!" Lanetta ran again.

"Yeah!" Wriggle was very excited.

I didn't like the idea of Lanetta running around like a small child, but I tried to put my best face for her. Despite all the flaws, she is a good Trainer.

We reached Route 3 by running. Several Trainers were there, training and battling each other and with the wild Puppets.

We did get into a few battles, and all of them involved a spam of Quick Attack or Gust. Lanetta kept winning the battles.

In the evening, a Puppet Center was within sight near an entrance on a mountain.

"That entrance is to Mount Moon." Lanetta pointed at the big hole. "For now, let's go into the Center!"

We went into the Center. There were many Trainers and Puppets there. Most of the Puppets are Nazrin, Mystia, and Chen. Lanetta picked an empty sofa to sit on, and Wriggle and I followed her.

"By the way, Lanetta, we found this when we were in the market." Wriggle showed the piece of paper.

"A terrible souvenir? That doesn't sound very pleasant..." She remarked.

"Yeah... I am willing to bet that this spell card belongs to a powerful youkai." I added.

"Again, what is a youkai?" Lanetta asked that question again.

Wriggle answered, "A youkai is a being which is basically not human. Youkai here have forms similar to humans, but they usually have specific characteristics. Mystia and I have wings, Chen and Rin have cat ears and tails, and others. Though some other youkai like Meiling or Yukari look perfectly human. The only way to find out if it is a youkai or not is finding out whether they eat humans."

I thought I would add into Wriggle's explanation. "Youkai nowadays do not eat humans as much because of Gensokyo's laws, and we do not care if someone is a human or youkai. As a general rule, youkai are strong in the night and humans in the day. Some humans are unaffected by the night, and diurnal youkai do exist."

I had finished explaining when a Hiker approached us. "Excuse me, did you say 'terrible souvenir' just now?"

"Yes, is something wrong?" Lanetta replied.

"Then, I would like you to take care of this Puppet. I found her injured in the mountain, but I could not train her properly. She is a combative Satori, with one of her spell cards being the terrible souvenir. You seem young and spirited, you might be the Trainer she deserves." The Hiker showed us a chibi Satori.

"Hello... I am a Satori... nice to meet you." She bowed.

"Hello! My name is Lanetta. Before we continue, I will ask this question: do you want to join us? I will travel to the entire region, and I attract danger. I cannot guarantee safety even though I will try my best to. I do not want any Puppets regret a rash decision."

Satori pondered for a second, and finally spoke, "I want to join you. I will protect you from harm."

Lanetta then took out a Miko Orb, and Satori let herself in.

"I decided not to name Satori because I don't want her to live with a bad name." Then Lanetta struck her pose.

The Hiker applauded. "I'm sure she will be happy with you. I will be taking my leave now. Farewell!" Then he left.

Lanetta then let Satori out and we went to the dining hall for dinner. This time, the menu was all about soups. We picked a soup we like, a bowl of rice, and sat down on a square table. Yes, Lanetta ate a bowl of seven types of soup at once. She mixed curry and stew in one bowl. I was hopeless.

"Lanetta, is it? Are you thinking about my previous Trainer?" Satori spoke up in the middle of our dinner.

Lanetta almost sprayed soup out of her mouth. "How did you know?" She spoke up after swallowing the soup in her mouth. Wriggle and I giggled.

"My species, a type of youkai named satori, can read minds." Satori replied. "That is one of why Trainers rarely want a Satori."

"What? Then you know all of the thoughts of everyone in this room?"

"Yes. This ability has a radius, and this whole dining hall is within that radius. But I didn't bother with them because we can fine-tune our abilities to focus on interesting thoughts only."

"Wow..." Wriggle was amazed, her eyes were glittering. "About the thoughts of bugs?"

"Their thoughts are driven by instincts, so those are not significant. I mostly read your own thoughts." Satori replied to Wriggle with a smile.

"About your previous Trainer..." I started.

"He... is someone I do not want to see ever again. He is a Rocket Grunt." Satori spoke after a moment of hesitation.

"Rocket? Does that mean... Team Rocket is messing with something inside the mountain?" Lanetta almost sprayed soup again.

_She's right across me, if she sprayed her soup I would get wet for sure! I hope she doesn't get shocked again!_

"Yes. They are knocking out rocks to find Fossils. I heard from the other Grunts who worked with my previous Trainer that they had successfully kidnapped a scientist who had discovered two specimens."

"Why did he leave you there?" Lanetta became even more serious.

"They had to finish grabbing the specimens quickly. Unfortunately, some traveling Trainers stood against Team Rocket, and I was injured from one such battle. Their leader commanded all the Grunts to descend and coerce the scientist to show where the specimens were. Since the Rocket Grunt did not use Miko Orbs, he left me because I couldn't run. He had a Nazrin with him, so he was not defenseless."

"Okay... when we get there, we'll teach them a lesson." Lanetta said in determination.

"Yeah!" We tossed our hands together.

Then, we finished our dinner and rented a room for the night.

Wriggle, as usual, took a shower first. Then, it was my turn. I washed my hair with the warm overflowing water. It was a long day.

After i got out, Satori came in. Wriggle was sleeping on her bed. Lanetta was not asleep, to my surprise.

"Esoterica, I want to change."

"You mean change clothes, Lanetta?"

"No. I want to change myself."

"You mean..."

"You know you hate me running around, yet you tried to smile this afternoon. I want to discard my childishness."

"But... why now of all times?"

"It will be a long and hard journey. If I start early, I will achieve it sooner. I'm sure this will repel me from danger as well."

_I don't know what has gotten into her. But she seemed serious. And yes, I hate her childishness. But I don't know how can I help her change... Never mind. I will help her out. As our adventure progresses, I'm sure we will work something out. And maybe, this will help me with Bright Vision Stars..._

"...I will help you. Even though I have no idea how, I will accompany you all the way through your metamorphosis."

"You will? Thank you!" She hugged me so tightly.

"You're welcome." I replied with a whisper. I was getting short of breath.

She finally released me, and I fell to the floor.

"Oh, no! Esoterica, did I hug you too tight?"

"Kind of... my shortness of breath is coming back for a moment..."

A few seconds later and I returned to my healthy state.

"What happened?"

"I have the tendency to get out of breath. Don't worry, I'm fine now."

"Hmmm... maybe we should ask the nurse about it tomorrow."

"I guess so."

Satori then came out. "Did someone fall ill? You were thinking about going to the nurse..."

Lanetta shook her head. "No, everyone is fine. We're going to ask about Sanae's tendency to get out of breath."

"You have that? I can't imagine... will it be hard for you to battle?" Satori was puzzled. Her Third Eye was moving frantically.

"No, it only troubles me when I do endurance training." I replied.

"Okay, I'm going to shower! Good night, everyone! Wriggle's already asleep." Lanetta went into the shower.

Satori and I gestured good night, and we went unconscious on our bed.

* * *

**A/N **Here is Chapter 3! More plot and no explanation for Satori's competitiveness. I'll explain it later.

The next chapter is... guess what, Lanetta kicking the Rocket Grunts' bottoms.


	5. Yin-Yang Orb and Mini-Hakkero

**A/N** As I promised, here is a detailed footage of Lanetta kicking the Rocket Grunts' bottoms.

Now, a big question: who will come to her? The Ordinary Western Magician or the Eternal Shrine Maiden?

* * *

"Sanae, Sanae, wake up."

A soft, charismatic voice pierced the night-long silence inside me. It was Satori.

I slowly opened my eyes to see her Third Eye twirling above my head.

"Sanae, we are about to get ready."

Apparently she was ready for today's agenda; some drops of water fell to my face from her short pink hair.

Then I just realized. I overslept!

"Where's Lanetta?" I got up frantically.

"She is taking a shower. And don't worry, you didn't oversleep. Lanetta just got up early and woke us up. She will take you to the nurse to ask about what happened yesterday."

"Eh?"

_She really worries about that?_

Then Wriggle came in.

"We got what Lanetta asked for!" Wriggle waved a large piece of white paper.

"What is that?" I tossed a question.

"A special appointment request." Satori replied. Hm? You're doubting our Trainer's worry?"

_I can't hide anything from Satori._

I nodded. "I mean... it's not that bothersome. It doesn't come up that often."

Then I was shocked to see a large brown figure approaching me.

"It may not be now, but we don't know what might happen in our journey." That brown figure, which was Lanetta, replied. "You can get ready now."

I nodded and went straight to bath. During showering, I couldn't help but think why Lanetta worried about me.

_I don't know what will get to me when the condition permits. I tend to commit fatal pranks. I may make her extremely angry.  
_

I wanted to read her mind. Like how Satori did.

_This will be crazy, but let me ask Satori if she can teach me._

I finished my morning shower and came outside. I saw Satori tried her best to hold her laugh.

_She caught my crazy thought._

"Everyone ready? Then let's go." Lanetta led us out and locked the door.

We walked down the stairway and into the front line.

_Wow, she was really serious in wanting to change. No jumps, nothing today._

"Wriggle, can I have the paper?" Lanetta asked Wriggle.

"Here!" She handed the large white paper.

We directly approached the nurse's desk. "Nurse Ei, I would like to check in. Here is the appointment request." She gave the paper to the nurse.

The nurse read the paper. "Please come this way."

We walked together into a medium-sized room with two chibi Eirin ready with an assortment of tools in it. Nurse Ei sat in the center desk.

"Welcome in!" The two Eirin greeted. "Who needs consultation?"

"I would like my Sanae to be examined. She came up with shortness of breath after a tight hug last night."

"Well then, Sanae, please sit here." The smaller Eirin directed me to a cushioned seat in front of the nurse's desk.

I followed her and sat in front of the nurse. She smiled at me.

"Now, Sanae, please describe what kind of condition you exactly felt last night." The nurse began.

"It felt like the end of a strenuous exercise. It was not like being strangled or having an asthma attack, but it's not that easy to explain. It usually only comes after I exercise or battle for too long, but for some reason it happened last night."

"Thank you for the explanation. Now, I would like you to breathe out as strong as possible into this tube. It measures the force that your breathing muscles can exert." She handed me a sterile tube, connected with another long tube into a square portable machine, which I could fit into my mouth. It was not a soft tube.

I took a deep breath and blew out as hard as possible into the tube. After that, Nurse Ei took the tube back, released the mouthpiece, and tossed it into a labeled bin.

Nurse Ei then took out a piece of paper printed by the machine. Lanetta, Satori and Wriggle all swarmed over to see what the paper was.

"Your value is 200. A normal value would be somewhere around 275 to 300. The most probable answer would be that your breathing muscles are triggered by something external to weaken even more. However, I cannot point out what the trigger is."

"So, Nurse Ei... what can we do when she suffers from it?" Lanetta chimed in.

"Unfortunately, since we do not know the cause yet, we can only offer supportive therapy for her until the trigger stops."

"Miss, if I may..." The other Eirin, who had been quiet, interrupted.

"What is it, Eirin?" Nurse Ei replied to her.

"I don't know if this will work, but maybe my ability can give some insight to it..." The Eirin replied shyly.

"Well then, you can try it. Sanae, Eirin will use her power to try and find out possible triggers. She will need physical contact. Will this be fine?"

I nodded.

_This Eirin is different from most of the others I see. I'm curious why. I'm sure it's not because of her power..._

The shy Eirin approached me and put her right hand on my chest. She closed her eyes, and her hand started glowing with a sky blue hue. She started muttering something.

"...electrical impulse... static... especially weakened when paralyzed..."

I saw Satori nodding slightly. I guess she read the Eirin's mind.

When she opened her eyes and withdrew her hand back, the nurse was ready to launch a question at her.

"The electrical conduction in her respiratory muscles is slightly different from normal Puppets. It is sensitive to static electricity. The effect is most severe if the Puppet is paralyzed." The Eirin replied before the nurse could ask her.

_Wait, paralysis? Now I'm even more confused. I haven't been paralyzed yet, since I just came down and met Lanetta. Well, let's see when it comes._

"Hmm... I have never known a case like that. Anyway, thank you for the information, Eirin."

"You are most welcome."

"So, basically we have to prevent her from contracting paralysis?" Lanetta inquired again.

"Yes. Also, natural lightning may affect her as well. Please be careful during thunderstorms." The Eirin replied.

"Do you have any other questions, Lanetta?" Nurse Ei asked her.

Satori raised her hand. "This question is unrelated to us, but... I would like to know why that Eirin is really different from most others that I have met."

_Satori is trying to answer my question. Or maybe our question._

"I'm new here." The Eirin spoke up.

"She still carries the burden of her past. Do you know about Eirins' relationship to other Puppets in their habitat?" Nurse Ei continued.

"One of the nurses told us about it."

"Then it is easier to explain. She was manipulated by Kaguya with bad intentions to create a poison. She did, and the Puppet who received it bid farewell. The Nurse in Kin Island found her and trained her to help in the Center."

"If we may know, who was the recipient?" Wriggle became even more interested.

"Kaguya will only attack one species of Puppet violently." Nurse Ei explained.

"I don't want to count how many Mokou have my friends and I killed..." The Eirin started to cry. The smaller Eirin approached her and gave her a hug.

"I don't know what kind of Puppet a Kaguya is, but why do they attack?"

This time, the small Eirin spoke up, while still stroking her crying friend.

"Kaguya and Mokou are eternal rivals. They attack each other occasionally. I don't know the details since I have never seen the attacks, but it will most likely be fatal."

"Do they have some kind of hatred towards each other? This is interesting. I'll find out more when I get to Kin Island, I guess." Lanetta said her thoughts out loud. "Nurse Ei, and both of you Eirin, thank you for your time." She bowed. Wriggle, Satori and I followed her.

"You are most welcome." The nurses replied.

We opened the white door and went out of the room.

"Okay, after we got all that settled out... guess what I want to say." Lanetta cheerfully spoke to us.

"I'm not going to answer because I already know." Satori shrugged, almost laughing.

Oh right... well then, Firefly or Esoterica, any bet?"

"Ummm... let's eat?" Wriggle attempted to find out what Lanetta was thinking.

Satori burst into laughter after Wriggle finished her sentence.

"What's so funny? Wriggle's answer is correct, I'm hungry!" Lanetta blushed.

"That's what makes it funny. I've been reading everyone's thoughts in the room, but the most prominent one is yours, Lanetta!" Satori stopped, finished her sentence, then laughed again. I joined her.

"We didn't mean to embarrass you, Lanetta..." Wriggle sighed.

"No, you didn't. I just forgot that now we have a literal mind-reader in the team."

Satori finally stopped laughing. "Also, Sanae, you wanted to learn how to read minds? Maybe we can try it later."

My laughter was cut short by Satori's piercing words.

_She got me._

I could only respond by nodding.

"We finally found the dining room!" Lanetta exclaimed.

The four of us enjoyed salad-style menu this time. I personally picked more vegetables than deli meats available there. When I got back to the table, Wriggle got the vegetarian menu, Satori a caesar-style salad, and Lanetta was chowing on a normal salad, to my surprise.

"Wow, you were serious. You didn't mix everything again." I commented on Lanetta's dish.

"Actually... I ate the mixtures first. It was actually cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing." She confessed.

_Long way to go, huh..._

I paid no mind and started eating my pick. I felt like turning into a cow for a second, grazing on raw vegetables.

After the super-healthy breakfast, we all set off for Mount Moon. When we entered, a group of young Trainers was within sight. We could hear their conversations.

"Hey, they say Rocket Grunts are inside the mountain."

"Yeah, they are. You know who Rockets are, right? Let's teach them a lesson."

"Eh? But what can we youngsters do against adults?"

"They are adults, but a lot of them don't have experience in Puppet battles. All of us have the Boulder Badge. We can beat them together!"

Then they went deeper into the mountain.

"Say, girls, do you want to join them, or shall we go by ourselves?" Lanetta started.

"Anything is fine for me." I shrugged.

"If I may, can we go by ourselves? There are too many people and Puppets, and I don't want to pry on their thoughts." Satori raised her hand.

"We can do either way." Wriggle stretched her arms. "Though going by ourselves means more experience."

"Okay, we go by ourselves then. Before we go, I have a request... can you help me carry some of the stuff in the bag?"

_This problem again._

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to carry the heavy stuff." She added.

Then Lanetta opened her bag and let the mountain of stuff inside it to spill out. There were six smaller bags inside, mixed with survival gears and Puppet supplies. Food was on a separate section of the bag, so no food was harmed.

"So many things..." Wriggle commented.

Lanetta just smiled. "This is what a traveling Trainer's life is."

_It must be so heavy. How does she manage with her small frame?_

We partitioned everything using the small bags. Wriggle took the food supplies, Satori the Potions and Miko Orbs, and I got the pots and pans. My favorite things. I'll be cooking again. Yay!

Satori put her bag on and asked, "By the way, where did you get the bags?"

"From the Center. I picked all colors available, and there were six, so... there you go." Lanetta replied.

"I guess since they're free, you just took them all..." Wriggle facepalmed. "I must say, though, this bag is very strong."

Everyone stole my points, so I kept quiet. I didn't have anything to say. I wore the white backpack and waited for everyone to finish. The backpack was designed for chibi Puppets, in my opinion, because of the proportions.

"So, Satori... are they down there?" Lanetta pointed a hole with a ladder leading down.

"Most likely. Though they may be in the deepest part of the mountain, which is two levels below where we are now."

Several chibi Kisume and Rumia Puppets waved to us. They were shouting in Puppet language.

_Semoga berhasil!_

"Even the native Puppets are fed up with Team Rocket, I guess. They are wishing us good luck." Satori commented and waved back at them. "Makes me regret being a former Puppet of Team Rocket."

"Did you join voluntarily or were you coerced to join them?" Wriggle asked her.

"I was coerced to join. They once stormed my home in Cinnabar Islands and captured a lot of us. The Trainer who took me up was different from the other Grunts, though. He was more caring."

"Do you want to meet your Trainer again?" I became curious.

"I don't wish to. Even though he apologized for leaving me here, still, I don't believe that missions are more important than your partners."

We climbed down the sturdy ladder into the first inner floor. Yes, it was scary, even though the ladder was sturdy. It was still just a ladder without any safety equipment. Puppets can fly, but seeing Lanetta freeze before climbing down, we decided to climb down together. Wriggle went down first, then Satori, then I went, and finally our Trainer.

_We'll get used to it... we'll get used to it..._

Lanetta finally got down and screamed.

"That was the scariest moment of my life!"

"Um... we have one more to go." Satori hesitated before she finally spilled the beans, making Lanetta cower.

"How did you know?" I questioned her. Wriggle was petting Lanetta's shoulders.

"No thoughts are here. Only yours. That can only mean they are downstairs." Satori approached the panicking Trainer. She then opened her bag and took out a bottle of Fresh Water.

"Don't panic." She gave the bottle to her, and Lanetta chugged all of it in a second. Then she resumed her panting. Her deep breaths were piercing our ears, but we didn't mind.

"Take your time, take your time..." Wriggle kept petting her.

"We can camp later in the inner floor, that place is bigger than this floor. But to get there, we need to climb down once more." Satori told me.

"Well, we can't move before she calms down. I'm guessing since we left at noon, it will be sunset when we went to the inner parts," I shrugged.

All of us kept our eyes on Lanetta. Finally she stood up and apologized.

"Sorry for that! I don't usually fear climbing ladders down!"

Satori suddenly shook her head. "You do."

"Huh? We're sure she wasn't lying... did you read something, Satori?" Wriggle became confused and shocked at the same time.

"You once fell from a ladder." Satori continued, with her eyes closed. "Then you suffered a concussion, and you woke up in an emergency room." She opened her eyes. "Since then, part of your brain retained the wiring of childish behavior. It also stored fear of climbing ladders down, since that was how you fell."

Lanetta was dumbstruck.

_How did Satori know so deep about that?_

Lanetta looked like she was ready for punishment because she lied.

"I-is that true, Lanetta?" Wriggle was shuddering, her antennae twitching cutely. They were so cute, I wanted to pull on them.

"...Yes... I once fell from a ladder just before I turned ten." She was almost crying. "I guess that was why I wasn't allowed to become a Trainer when I turned ten."

Satori instinctively approached her. Lanetta was expecting a hit, but she received a hug.

"I'm sorry for prying in. I can access traumatic memories of people." She spoke really softly.

We all waited in silence when Lanetta wiped her tears and opened her mouth.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Instead, you answered my lifelong question. How can I not thank you?"

She then stood up, lifting the little Satori with her.

"Let's go. We can't get to the Rockets if we don't climb down again, right? We better do it before I lose all courage."

_That is my Lanetta._

Wriggle and I looked into each other's eyes, nodded, and jumped onto our brown girl.

"Hug attack!" Wriggle exclaimed.

_Um... what in the world is a hug attack? Ah, never mind._

Wriggle, Satori, and I were like cold little children hugging their mother seeking for warmth. Lanetta curled her long arms over each of us before putting us back on the ground.

"Now, where is the descending spot?" Lanetta returned to her adventurer mental state. Satori pointed to her 10 o'clock direction. Lanetta then began marching along that direction alongside Satori, with Wriggle and I trailing behind them while looking at the interior of the cave.

The walls of the cave were shades of gray, the color of sturdy rocks. The ground is a firm bed of earth with deep brown color; several cracks can be seen every now and then. These walls gave no impression of hiding something valuable such as fossils.

_Speaking of them, why would they want fossils? Are they a group of paleontologists?_

"Satori, actually, what kind of organization is Team Rocket?" I called to the mind-reading youkai walking a few centimeters in front of me.

Lanetta and Satori started tossing out explanations without stopping their walk.

"Team Rocket is an organization whose aim is to rule the world with the help mystical creatures. Since now Puppets exist, I believe they started using Puppets in their evil ways. They make money by selling valuables and creatures." Lanetta started.

"They are looking for fossils to sell them. The organization requires tremendous funding, but they do not generate much." Satori continued.

"The strange thing is, what kind of fossils are they planning to rob from the scientist? This place is not known for its fossils." Lanetta added again.

"Let's find out after we fight this innocent ladder." Satori pointed to the hole on the ground with the ladder waiting patiently.

_Innocent ladder... I guess the ladder deserves more pity than the Trainers climbing it. They should make it safer._

Wriggle descended first with no problems. I was next. Yes, I still trembled because of nonsensical fears that I might slip and crash down. I made it safely, though. Satori went down calmly, and finally Lanetta arrived in one piece and with some tears.

When we were looking around, a man with a white coat and black pants crashed into Lanetta.

"Hey!" Our Trainer yelled.

"I'm sorry Miss! Team Rocket was chasing after me, and I didn't pay attention to the road!" The man, who was apparently a scientist, picked up his fallen glasses from the ground.

"Wait... are you the scientist Team Rocket is trying to capture?" Satori asked him.

He nodded. "I was here for my weekly artifact sampling, since artifacts are often located here. However, for some reason Team Rocket thought I have uncovered fossils."

Another loud yell came into our ears. "Hey, little girl in brown, move away from that person!"

Several young men and women wearing black tight suits with the letter R printed on them surrounded us. Several Nazrin Puppets followed them.

"Team Rocket!" Lanetta shouted.

"Hey little girl, I will say this again. Move away from that person, or else..." One of the men took a stance.

"Or else... what? A battle?" Lanetta simply shouted back.

"She won't reason. Nazrin, prepare for command!" One of the women shouted.

Five chibi Nazrin Puppets came in front of the Rocket group, with their dowsing rods pointed at us.

"We'll protect you." "Lanetta said to the researcher. "Esoterica, Firefly, Satori, are you ready?"

"Of course!" The three of us put our bags beside Lanetta's feet and stepped forward.

"Nazrin, Bite! Aim for the Sanae!" Another man from the group of Rocket Grunts commanded.

"You think you can simply knock out my Puppets?" Lanetta replied.

To our surprise, not one Nazrin dashed towards me. All five of them did.

"One isn't enough, but five will! Your Sanae will be ours!" Yet another woman from the gang laughed.

"Lanetta, I can dodge three of them, but not all..." I informed her of my situation.

"Here's the plan. Esoterica, dodge if possible, then use Decision! Wriggle, Satori, find out the two Nazrin that Esoterica can't dodge, and use Quick Attack and Mirror Shot!"

I jumped out of the Nazrins' path, fired a Decision at two of them, and Wriggle and Satori hit two others with their attacks. However, one Nazrin successfully bit my left arm.

"Fweh! I don't like biting others...!" The Nazrin released her jaws from my arm, leaving a rather large bite wound on it. It constantly fired impulses of pain to my consciousness.

"Umm... you're a mouse, what made you hate biting?" I was curious. Ignoring the wound she made, I questioned her. She doesn't have a bad vibe, so I was expecting her to answer my question.

"I don't like raw flesh. It brings back bad memories." The Nazrin simply replied before returning to her position.

The Rocket Grunts displayed mixed expressions of their faces following the outcome of that turn.

"Hey! It's unfair! How can one attack hit two Puppets?" The other Grunt who had been silent all the time yelled.

"Your Puppets were close enough that both of them were in the attack's hit box. Simple as that." Lanetta grinned at them.

_Theoretically speaking, yes, Lanetta, that is the explanation. That does not always apply to battles. I managed to hit them more because of luck._

"You are good. However, you're just a kid! We'll prove superior to you! Nazrin, Mud Slap!" The tallest male Grunt commanded.

"Watch out. Mud can get into your eyes and blind you. Let's play safe. Firefly, Faint Attack. Esoterica, Decision. Satori, use Recollection to copy Wriggle's moves. Attack the ones closest to you."

Satori twirled her Third Eye to face Wriggle and closed her eyes. Wriggle dashed forward to feint the mud shots. I called the power of faith to unleash another Decision.

"Mud Slap!" The five Nazrin made a single line and fired mud blotches towards Wriggle, who flew away from her spot. Wriggle then dashed towards the weakest-looking Nazrin, the one hit by Quick Attack on the previous turn, and rammed into her with force. The attack stirred up a local dust storm, with a shriek heard just when the storm starts.

I fired a golden beam from my oonusa to the leftmost Nazrin, bringing her to her knees. She got up soon after, with an anxious look as she and the other Nazrin waited for the dust to clear up.

When the dust had cleared, the Nazrin was unconscious on the ground, with Wriggle flying back to my side.

"My Nazrin! You...!" A particularly short woman in the Rocket group screamed in fury. She picked up the collapsed mouse and withdrew to the back of the group.

"You will pay for knocking out our Nazrin!" The other female Grunt mouthed. "Nazrin, use Bite again!"

To their surprise, the Nazrin that bit me turned towards them. "Can you make me use another move, please? I'm tired of you making me bite everyone. You even made me and my friends bite each other." She was clearly annoyed, as shown by her high pitch.

"You... You're my Puppet, so listen to me! You're lucky I didn't leave you out even though you were injured. One of my friends left his Satori here, you know?" The tallest Grunt squatted to meet the Nazrin's eye level and yelled at her.

I glanced at Satori, who shook for a split second before returning to her calm battle state.

_I hope that the Grunts doesn't realize that this is the Satori._

The other Nazrin could only sigh. _Mau bagaimana, kita memang harus menerima nasib ini. Semoga kita bisa kabur seperti Satori itu._

"Hey girls, what did the Nazrin say?" Lanetta whispered loud enough for us to hear.

"They are hopeless. They want to be free and hope that their Trainers leave them like how Satori was left." Wriggle replied with whispers too.

We turned back to the Puppet-versus-Trainer ruckus. "I'm going to discipline her. You continue the battle. Make sure that you get the scientist." The tall Grunt spoke to his comrades and walked away.

"Now you're making things worse! You'll pay for this! Nazrin, Bite!" The same female Grunt who commanded earlier spoke again. The Nazrin dashed forward again, this time branching to three directions.

"Let's put our strategy in motion. Satori, attack the Nazrin weakened by Esoterica with Quick Attack. Wriggle, aim for the Nazrin at the center with Quick Attack. Esoterica, Decision the other one." Lanetta softly commanded.

_She is cleverly using Satori's Recollection move to make up for the lack of type advantage. Very neat. She told Satori to attack the weakened one because Satori is a special attacker and Quick Attack is physical._

I fired another beam to the Nazrin, but she was still able to run. I got bit again, this time on my left shoulder.

"Stop biting on me!" I frantically whacked the Nazrin with my oonusa because my pain tolerance is nearing its limit. Despite my attempts, she didn't let go.

_If this battle doesn't end soon, I will collapse. The other wound is slowly letting blood drip over now. I can't hide it; my sleeve has soaked the blood up and turned slightly red. This second wound is deeper than the first one, so... I don't know.  
_

The Nazrin finally came off my shoulder after receiving numerous head traumas from my constant whacking. "I'm getting dizzy..." She tried to walk back, but collapsed beside me.

I was so focused on getting that Nazrin off my shoulder that I didn't notice the others. Wriggle and Satori had knocked out the remaining Nazrin, but with bite marks on their arms inflicted before they connected Quick Attack.

"What? We lost? Impossible!" The remaining four Grunts yelled in unison. We retreated back to Lanetta's side.

They hurried to pick up the three Nazrin. "We won't forget this!"

After that, they ran away along the straight path in front of us.

Lanetta sat down and opened up the red medicine bag beside her foot. "Now that all's settled, let's treat those wounds before anything..."

She took out some Potion bottles, some gauze pads, bandages, and secure tapes.

"I'll want to treat that shoulder bite first. Esoterica, if something hurts, tell me." She picked me up and placed me in front of her in a sitting position. She faced my left shoulder and wiped it with the gauze pad.

The scientist opened the bandage when Lanetta gripped a Potion with her right hand and straightened my left arm with her left hand.

"Get ready." Lanetta whispered. Wriggle and Satori braced themselves as they looked at me. Their wounds made a straight line when their flexed arms were touching each other. Wriggle's wound was on the left and Satori's on the right.

I felt a stinging mist on my left shoulder as she sprayed my wound with the Potion.

"Waaaaaaahhh!" I reflexively yelled and jerked forward. The spray left a burning after-sensation on my wound. Now I realized why Lanetta held my left arm. She knew that this would happen.

"Just a little more." She kept holding my left hand and stroked my green hair with her right.

"Okay..."

I surrendered myself to her. She sprayed more of the potion, as if she was trying to burn me. I kept myself still for as long as possible, until she had finished spraying the contents of that Potion to my shoulder.

I saw the scientist quietly handing the wrung out bandage to Lanetta. She then proceeded to wrap my shoulder tightly with the bandage to stop blood flow. Finally, she secured the bandage with tapes.

Then she moved to face my left arm directly and removed my reddish sleeve. "Luckily it was not as serious as I had expected."

"It's the same as our wounds." Wriggle remaked.

The bite marks on my arm were exposed after Lanetta wiped the excess blood with gauze pads. Lanetta held another Potion in her right hand and straightened my left arm. "Just one more time."

I tried my best to focus on the mist instead of my wound. It proved to be a good distraction. When the Potion bottle emptied, Lanetta stopped.

"This wound doesn't need to be bandaged, but would you like it wrapped to prevent friction damage?" She asked.

"Yes, please. I would like it protected."

The scientist prepared another bandage, which Lanetta used to wrap my lower arm. She secured it with tape.

"It's done. Now, Wriggle, Satori, which one of you needs immediate attention?"

"We can manage this, Lanetta. Please take care of Satori first." Wriggle pushed Satori to her.

Satori handed her right arm to Lanetta and hung her body low, bracing for the potion spray. Lanetta cleaned the wound and began spraying it. Satori was expressionless, but I know she was feeling the same thing.

A few minutes later, Lanetta wrapped her arm with bandage and nudged her. "It's done. Don't hang yourself like that, it's scary!"

Wriggle leaped onto her lap. Lanetta rolled her sleeve and treated her wound as well. Wriggle was really brave. She stared at Lanetta's face while the potion was being applied.

"You know, next time we visit the Center, remind me to ask why potions and Eirin's healing ability are so different." I told Satori.

"I want to ask that as well. And maybe we can have an Eirin with that ability in the team..." Satori agreed on my thoughts.

"Wriggle, stop staring at me, it's scary! I'm done!" Our Trainer shouted at Wriggle.

The scientist handed Lanetta another piece of bandage, and she dressed Wriggle's arm.

"All is well now." Lanetta concluded.

"Miss, may I know your name?" The scientist spoke up after being silent for that long period of time.

"My name is Lanetta."

"Lanetta, I don't know how to thank you for saving me. I didn't bring my Puppets today, thinking the artifact sampling would be quick, but Team Rocket did that."

"Don't worry about it. Team Rocket is every Trainer's enemy, and Trainers help each other out!" She smiled.

"What kind of Puppets to scientists use?" Wriggle asked him.

"It depends on the person. I use a Reimu and a Marisa because I collect their artifacts for my colleague in Cinnabar Island. He can call Puppets using this artifacts." He paused.

"Ah, I know. I will give you one of the two artifacts I found." He took out a yin-yang shaped disc and an octagon with a hole in the center.

"This is the Yin-Yang Orb and this is the Mini-Hakkero. The Yin-Yang Orb will call a Reimu Puppet, and the Mini-Hakkero will call a Marisa Puppet. Which one would you like?"

"I don't know the Puppets... please help me decide, girls!" Lanetta asked us for our opinions.

"A Reimu is a shrine maiden with movesets similar to me. A Marisa is a human magician who is sneaky but hardworking." I tried to explain things simply.

"Wait, there is a paper below the artifacts." Satori noticed.

"Oh? Let's see." The scientist pulled on the paper, but it was glued onto the Yin-Yang Orb. He lifted it up and found out it was folded. He unfolded it and put on a confused look when he saw the inside of the paper.

"Spirit Sign 'Fantasy Seal'? Why would someone put Reimu's spell card on a paper and stick it here?"

"It's that phenomenon again..." Wriggle spoke up.

"What phenomenon?" The scientist inquired.

"I occasionally find pieces of paper with spell cards written on them. After that, I will meet a Puppet with that spell card, and the Puppet will join me." Our Trainer explained to him.

"I guess this Yin-Yang Orb is destined for you. You can have it." He handed the Yin-Yang Orb to Lanetta, who accepted it.

"Once again, thank you for saving me. I shall return to Pewter now. Take care." He bowed and walked towards the ladder behind us.

"Thank you for the item and take care too!" Lanetta waved to him.

After he ascended, Lanetta asked us about our next step.

"Girls, would you like to camp here? That battle was quite tiring, in my opinion."

"Yes, please!" The three of us said in unison.

We moved a little farther to prevent blocking the ladder for others. Satori laid out the mats, Wriggle opened her green bag containing food, and I took out the pots and pans.

"Girls, do you know how to start a fire easily?" Lanetta tossed a question while she was lighting some wood using a hand lighter.

"You need a Fire Puppet for that. We don't have the ability to do it." Wriggle replied.

"I hope we can have a Fire Puppet later. It would be easier and more environment-friendly. Also, I don't like the cold." Lanetta had finished lighting the wood, and now she assembled flat stones around the fire to make a base for the pots.

"Let's see how our adventure progresses. Puppets with fire abilities are rare to come by." I told her. "Wriggle, what do we have for today?"

"Ingredients perfect for a soup. We found soup powder inside!" Wriggle handed the ingredients to me. Lanetta stood up to help Satori with the mats, which we would use as beds.

I chopped the vegetables whilst waiting for water to boil in the pot. Lanetta's idea of stacking flat stones was amazing.

When the water boiled, I tossed the ingredients into the pot and began cooking. I love cooking so much.

About ten minutes later, the soup was perfect to eat, so I called the others. We ate two bowls per person!

"This is so delicious!" Wriggle complimented again.

"It's really nice to eat warm soup in a cold night in a cave!" Lanetta added.

"This is exquisite. How did you learn cooking?" Satori topped off the dialogue.

"I didn't learn to cook. It just happened that I like cooking. But thank you for the compliments." I replied.

After the dinner, I cleaned all the bowls and cooking tools. Lanetta and the others lined the mat with cloth. After all the things are clean, I joined them on the makeshift bed.

_I don't really like sleeping in this condition, after a battle and exploring... well, we have no choice._

"Good night everyone!" Lanetta greeted us for the last time in that day before falling asleep.

"Good night!" We replied her before entering the land of dreams ourselves.

* * *

**A/N** Lanetta didn't literally kick the Rockets. She made them quarrel with their Puppets. It's hilarious.

I noticed that my chapters get progressively longer each chapter. But working on each chapter is still hard. I hope I can increase my updating pace. ^^

Next chapter? Getting out of the cave and into Cerulean.

BTW, about the Ordinary Magician versus Eternal Shrine Maiden thing... she did get Reimu's artifact, but the answer is not completely Reimu. We'll see why later.


	6. A Plain, Asiatic Rocket Assault

**A/N** I completely apologize for the lack of activity. Seriously. I will try my hardest, especially remembering that this fanfic has a sequel planned already!

About the review... I completely understand what you mean. I am Indonesian (and I know that Bonéka means "Puppet"; how did I include Indonesian sentences inside the fanfic if I didn't know Indonesian? *laughs*), and I know that this particular hack was made by an Indonesian (other hacks were made by people of various nationalities). I honestly laughed when I saw Bonéka (before I knew that the creator is Indonesian). This story will have more Indonesian sentences inside it. However, I will not make Indonesian the dominant language of the fanfic because of various reasons:

One, The whole story was conceptualized in English, and translating it to Indonesian is a pain. I can't translate the terminologies and still keep the same meaning. (Here is an example: a very common terminology that will appear in the fanfic is the Power of Eternal. If I translated this into Indonesian (which is approximately "kekuatan abadi"), the literal meaning would be "eternal power" instead of "power of eternal" and there is a reason why I arranged the words that way. Translating can completely change the meaning.)

Two, not all Touhou fans speak Indonesian and I want everyone, regardless of language, to enjoy this story (that is the reason that I summarize the Indonesian dialogues in English in every chapter).

Three, native Indonesians speak to one another using informal dialects (we have about 500 dialects from the five main islands; I am from the capital city, Jakarta, so I don't really have a dialect, but we use mostly informal terms when speaking). Writing a piece of work requires me to use the formal version of the language, and in my honest opinion, writing formal Indonesian in a fanfic is... strange. I will do it for the sake of the fanfic (so that people can Google Translate it if they are curious. Google Translate, most of the time, cannot read informal Indonesian). But the chances I can write a complete story using this awkward language is pretty low.

Four, this also serves as an English practice. I realize that even with my grammar knowledge, I find it hard to make sure the grammar in this story is consistent!

All in all, thank you for the reassurance that I can use Indonesian in this fanfic! I mean, even if the country leaves a lot to be desired, I am proud to speak Indonesian!

I hope that non-Indonesian speakers are not repulsed by the Indonesian sentences in the prologue!

* * *

"Good morning!"

A voice greeted my ears as I rubbed my eyes. Turns out Wriggle was intently looking at me.

I saw Satori combing her hair nearby, looking at our still-asleep Trainer.

I got up and stretched for a bit. Satori then shifted her focus to Wriggle and I.

"One question. Shall we wake her up, or not?" Satori caught our attention.

"I don't know. But if we decide to wake her up, count me out!" Wriggle immediately gave a response.

I thought for a moment.

_Oh, right, Satori said she will teach me how to read minds. Better remind her before I forget. I am dead curious._

"I say let her sleep for a little more. While waiting for her to wake up, Satori, please teach me to read minds!" I replied.

Satori finished combing her hair and handed the comb to me. "Sure, but before that, let's make sure everyone is ready when she wakes up."

I took off my hair accessories and combed my long green hair. Wriggle observed the old strands of hair falling down.

"The longer you hair, the more falls, isn't it...?" She asked. "I've never had long hair."

"That's how it is." I replied.

After I finished combing my hair, Satori pointed her Third Eye on me.

"I don't know how this works because you don't have a Third Eye, but here is how it is for me. I look at the person and concentrate at first. Then my Third Eye catches the brain impulses of the person and translates it into thoughts."

I tried to focus into Satori's mind. I didn't know what to do; I just concentrated and imagined her speaking inside my mind.

Then I caught something.

_"When will Lanetta wake up? I'm itching to get out of this cave..."_

I turned to face Wriggle and asked her if she was wondering when Lanetta would wake up.

"What? You knew?" She was utterly shocked.

"Then I suppose Sanae has learnt how to read minds." Satori calmly responded.

The confused Wriggle became even more shocked. "How? You don't have a Third Eye, right? Or maybe it was hidden somewhere?" Wriggle scanned my body from head to toe.

_She's creepy. I really don't have a Third Eye!_

"Don't be silly! I don't have a Third Eye!" I leaped backwards from Wriggle. "I think it's a miracle or something. Sanae are known to cause miracles!"

_Truth be told, I don't know how I did it either. Maybe I was dead desperate on learning it that some miracle happened. I have no idea._

Then we heard a voice from behind.

"Hey... you girls are so noisy... give me five more minutes..."

Wriggle immediately pulled the half-awake Lanetta out of the mattress.

"Let's go, Lanetta! It's late!" She shouted.

"It's still dark in here..."

"We're in a cave!" I added. Wriggle facepalmed.

Lanetta looked around for a moment and finally realized that she was in a cave.

"No wonder the sun never comes up! I'll get ready!"

She got up, stretched, and grabbed the comb I handed to her. We rolled up the mattress and took care of each of our bags. After Lanetta finished putting her hat on and everything, she fitted the mattress onto her hefty, bulging brown bag.

"Now, let's go up!"

We started our trod along the straight path of the cave. The rocky road was smooth, considering how many times it has been walked on. The friction from the people and Puppet's shoes must have polished it.

At the end of this very straight and quiet path, a ladder awaited us.

Satori, Wriggle, and I all stared at Lanetta in unison, fearing she would not have the courage to climb the ladder.

"Why are you staring at me like that? I can climb up without fear. Don't worry."

She grabbed the rungs and climbed ahead of us.

_"She's in good spirit now. Let's not ruin her feelings and go."_

I caught Wriggle's thought. I just nodded at her. Satori did as well.

And so, we climbed up this particular ladder. Immediately beside it was another ladder up, much to our convenience.

After 24 rungs, our faces were bathed with the light entering from an opening on the cave.

_This must be the surface level._

"Hey, let's have a race. Whoever gets out last will cook the next meal!" Lanetta proposed to us after everyone has climbed the ladder.

"I'll pass." I shrugged.

"I guess Wriggle's the only one fast enough to compete here..." Satori added.

Lanetta then turned to the small firefly. "So? What do you think, Wriggle?"

"Umm... why not?"

"Then it's on! One, two, three!" Lanetta started a countdown all by herself and sprinted towards the exit.

"Wait! That's not fair!" Wriggle buzzed to chase her.

Satori and I looked at them running, then turned to face each other, and we sighed together.

"Is Lanetta purely childish like that? Her thoughts are also straightforward, too, just like a child. Will she ever outgrow it?" Satori started a conversation.

I opened my mouth to speak when Satori just took my hand.

"I got the answer. You're trying to help her change, are you not?"

_She read my mind again!_

I decided to stay quiet and let Satori drag me out to the exit. _If she wants answers, she can just peek into my mind anyway._

We were about to exit the cave when Wriggle came flying towards us.

"This is bad! She overran and fell into a pond!" Wriggle pulled us to the scene.

"Here we go again..." I hastily opened my mouth. _I know why Wriggle went to tell us; she couldn't possibly lift someone more than twice her height alone._

"Don't tell me she can't swim..." Satori facepalmed.

"It seems so! We must hurry!" Wriggle pulled us even more strongly.

* * *

We arrived at the pond to see Lanetta making random movements with her limbs, trying to stay afloat on the water.

"Let's make a formation because her thoughts are distorted right now. Wriggle, you take the left arm. Sanae, take her right arm. I'll hold her shoulders." Satori laid out a command.

"Roger!" Wriggle and I flew to our respective positions and grabbed her thin but flailing arm.

"Stabilize her. After that, you can start pulling her to the front." Satori's instructions continued while she took off to the air.

After several tugging attempts, we successfully pulled her out of the water.

"Phew!" Lanetta exclaimed after clearing her throat from the water.

* * *

"Just what were you thinking by falling into a pond?" I shouted at Lanetta mercilessly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I slipped!"

Satori pulled me from Lanetta before I had a chance to say more words. "Don't make the situation worse, Sanae. She didn't mean to."

"Okay..." I just replied. _Just don't do that again._

Just when the situation seemed to clear, Wriggle mentioned one thing: "Hey, where did her hat go?"

"My hat?" Lanetta instinctively held her head only to find out that her hat was gone. "Oh no! I lost it!"

"Hold on a second... this is a pond, right? The hat should be here somewhere..." Satori began to look around.

I stopped Satori before she walked too far.

"The hat is a foam hat. If it falls into water, it will swell and sink."

"So that means we cannot find it?" Lanetta interrupted.

"I'm afraid not."

Our brown-themed Trainer stared at the ground for moments.

_That hat is one of the only memories my parents left me..._

I contemplated. It was not appropriate for me to tell her to shrug the loss off and continue. I pulled Satori and Wriggle to the side for us to discuss.

"We cannot ask her to shrug off this loss easily. The hat is a memento." I whispered.

"So what can we do?" Wriggle replied.

"I'd say we get her a new hat. But about that memory... somehow we have to help her overcome it. Before it becomes even worse of a trauma."

"Are you serious _that_ is going to be traumatic, Satori?" I looked at her in disbelief.

"I said even worse. Having her parents leave her in a volatile age is traumatic for a human. We cannot compare our situations with hers that easily." Satori justified her statement.

"We guess we'll have to try our best to cheer her up..." Wriggle concluded.

"That seems to be the best course of action."

Satori first approached her and brought her spirit up using incomprehensible gestures that only Lanetta would understand.

Then, without a word, they walked. Satori gestured us to walk along.

We kept walking in silence until we arrived at the gates of Cerulean City. As the sun rose up higher in the sky, so our spirit dwindled in the silence.

Finally Wriggle spoke something to break the uneasy silence.

"Everyone, we say let's visit the Gym tomorrow!"

Turns out the word "Gym" was one potent motivation booster for everyone.

"Well then, since Wriggle has decided we challenge the Cerulean Gym tomorrow, I say we prepare!" Lanetta took the conversation over.

We took our steps towards the Center and unloaded our luggage in the room provided for us. Then, as usual, we raided the dining hall. I would rather not disclose what we ate because it was too embarrassing!

After everyone was full and happy, Lanetta brought us to a route ahead of Cerulean which ended in a cliff. There, we saw many Puppets playing around.

"Puppets, would you mind if we train against you in preparation for a Gym battle?" Lanetta announced.

"No, of course not! You are welcome here!" The Puppets, which consisted of Shizuha, Minoriko, Keine, Daiyousei, and Lily White, responded.

And so, we scattered and fought (more exactly played with) the Puppets.

It was a fun workout when Lanetta exclaimed "Does any one of you have a spell named Three Sacred Treasures here?"

_Three Sacred Treasures...? What kind of spell is that? It sounds like Japanese history..._

"What made you ask that, Lanetta?" Wriggle replied.

"I found this paper with that written on it. Must be a spell card for sure!"

Lanetta waved a small white paper which looks the same as the ones we have previously collected.

A Keine popped up and raised her hand. "I have that set of spell cards. How can I help you?"

"A Puppet with spell cards written on this paper is, for some reason, destined to become her partner. Or she will persuade them." I replied.

"Yup! The more Puppets, the merrier!" Lanetta smiled. "But I have to ask you. Do you want to join us?"

The Keine nodded. "I want to! Please do!"

"By the way, Three Sacred Treasures sound like Japanese history... is it part of it?" I asked.

"Yes!" Keine replied. "In accordance to Keine's power over history, the spell cards Great Sister uses are all named after them."

Lanetta took out a Miko Orb. "Then I'll call you History then!"

The Miko orb went flying from her hand and spectacularly caught the Keine.

"We got a new friend! Yay!" Wriggle exclaimed.

A few hours later, we waved the wild Puppets goodbye and went back to the city. After doing the check-in in the Center, Lanetta took her shower and we (the Puppets) took some time to chat.

"Girls, let us continue discussing about Lanetta's lost hat." Satori opened a discussion.

"A lost hat?" Keine questioned.

"Yes. Lanetta lost her hat in the pond outside of the city and we could not retrieve it. We are looking a way to buy her a new hat." Wriggle replied.

"I once found this. The other Puppets say it is a mob cap, but I don't know how to wear it." Keine took out a white sheet of fabric with a brown ribbon intertwined with the fabric on its edges. "I kept it because it looked nice, but I don't mind if you want to give her this."

"Hey, I guess we can give her this hat. What do you think?" I replied.

"That's great!" Wriggle cheered.

"Ok then, I guess we give her this after the Gym." Keine put the mob cap back into her pocket.

Cue another relaxing shower for me. Well, I was the last in line, so I waited for the others to enjoy their own showers.

After everyone is finished, we went to the dining hall and enjoyed dinner, with Lanetta preparing a piece of paper and a pen.

"While we're at it, let's create a battle strategy for tomorrow!" She started, with her mouth full of food.

I couldn't help but facepalm at her puffy face.

"The Cerulean Gym is a Water Gym. I presume you already have a Nature move, Wriggle?" Lanetta continued after swallowing the abomination of food in her mouth.

Wriggle gave her a thumb up. "We have Needle Arm in our moveset!"

"Don't tell me that you're going to sweep the Gym clean with Wriggle..." I facepalmed again.

"We have no problem with that!" Wriggle replied.

"Yup! That's the easy way. You have an advantage, you use it." Lanetta wolfed down a chunk of her plate again.

"And you have nothing more to say." Satori calmly replied.

"Stop peeking into my mind!" Lanetta nudged the satori.

"My apologies, that cannot be turned off." Satori simply replied after wiping her mouth.

"Then I guess we're... done?" Keine chimed in.

"After that abomination of food is gone from her plate, I guess." I pointed at Lanetta's plate.

Long story short, we finished our food and went back to the room. As the others prepared for lights off, a thought wandered in my mind.

_I want to give the hat in person._

Another thought suddenly took over the previous one in my mind: _I guess I'll take the hat from her and give it later._

_But wait. How do I make sure that she would not notice?_

_Oh, I know! I'll put toilet paper in her pocket to replace the hat!_

And so, I waited for the others to fall asleep. I was on one bed with Keine, so after she has dozed off, I slipped my hand into her pocket and replaced the hat. I put the hat in my skirt pocket.

* * *

I woke up the next morning. Seeing everyone else was still asleep, I proceeded to shower myself to my heart's content.

In an hour, everyone was bursting out of the main door to start a race to the Cerulean Gym. Well, that was Lanetta's idea. Nobody agreed to it, though, so we just walked to the Gym.

We were greeted by two chibi Star Sapphire Puppets in the Gym, blowing bubbles with a bubble blower happily.

"Welcome to Cerulean Gym!"

The loud cries of the Star Sapphire Puppets made a door open, revealing a tall woman in an olympic swim suit. Behind her are two chibi Puppets. I could not discern them, but I knew one of them carries a weapon. It looked like a... scythe?

_What Puppet carries a scythe?_

"Good morning, challenger! I am Misty of the Cerulean Gym. I specialize in all-out Water offense!"

The two Star Sapphire moved to the sides of the building and operated what appeared to be two giant hoses, cleaning the muddy ground and revealing a battlefield. The battlefield spanned the entire floor, with the same markings on it as in Brock's Gym.

After the battlefield was dry, the two Star Sapphire took their posts.

"Both Trainers may now step on the battlefield!"

Misty and Lanetta positioned themselves on the battlefield. We, the Puppets, followed suit.

"This Gym Battle will be a single moveset battle. Each Trainer may use up to 2 Puppets each. Please mention your name and your Puppets!"

One of the Star Sapphire held a clipboard and a pen.

Wow, those sure are trained fairies. I wonder though... is this Misty a nice girl, or is she a tyrant?

"I, Misty, will battle with chibi Nitori and chibi Komachi!"

"My name is Lanetta. I will battle with a chibi Wriggle and chibi Sanae."

The Star Sapphire with the pen wrote all the details we mentioned.

"The winner is the Trainer who can knock out both of the opposing Puppets first!" The other Star Sapphire waved a flag.

The writing fairy finished and took up a flag as well.

"Let the battle begin!" The two blue fairies waved their flags simultaneously.

"I'll start first! Nitori, Aqua Jet!" Misty let out a war cry.

"Well, what a start. Wriggle, Quick Attack." Lanetta smiled.

The two Puppets raced to clash with each other, their cries squelched by the violent sound of wind and water rushing. Wriggle closed in first and hit the Nitori, sending both of them crashing near Misty.

"Eeek! Bugs! Nitori, dispose of her in this instant!" Misty jumped backwards in terror.

"Dispose? How rude for you to say that!" Lanetta exclaimed.

"I don't care! You're just a few years apart from me anyway! Prepare to suffer!" Misty retorted back. "Nitori! Rapid Spin!"

The Nitori proceeded to spin around forward.

"Wriggle, use Needle Arm before she hits!"

"On it!" Wriggle charged with a cactus-like energy projecting from her fist.

The two Puppets clashed with high speeds and stirred up dust from the ground, obscuring the Trainers' view. A brief green spark was seen from the dust cloud.

_Wriggle dealt a critical hit._

The dust cloud cleared to reveal the Nitori unconscious and Wriggle flying above her.

"Nitori is unable to battle!" One Star Sapphire raised her flag.

"Hmph! You won't win this time!" Misty recalled her Nitori into a Miko Orb. "Komachi, dispose of the bug! Now!"

The chibi Komachi jumped in silence onto the battlefield.

_Why are all her Puppets silent?_

_Wait a minute... something's suspicious... she managed to train two naughty fairies into such professional referees... and her Puppets don't seem to be excited to fight._

_When coupled with such a rough personality... could it be that she is harsh on Puppets?_

_She also doesn't show the training grounds like in Brock's Gym. I have to investigate this._

Satori glanced at me, apparently reading all the thoughts racing on my mind. She gave a slight nod.

Misty then commanded again. "Komachi, trap the bug! Use Whirlpool!"

Lanetta returned with another command. "Wriggle, use Needle Arm!"

Wriggle charged forward again, this time enveloping both fists with the green-colored energy. However, the whirlpool practically occupied her line of flight, and she was stuck inside the vortex. Wriggle flapped her wins vigorously to lift herself up from the water.

"Now suffer!" Misty exclaimed with glee.

_She seemed... oddly satisfied with that... what is wrong with her?_

"Wriggle, the whirlpool doesn't last forever! Hold on and keep your focus!" Lanetta ignored the sadistic remarks from Misty and focused on the whirlpool.

Soon after, the whirlpool disappeared and Wriggle resumed her charge once more, hitting the Komachi in point blank range. The Komachi lost her balance and fell, but she quickly made a recovery jump using her scythe as a pivot. Wriggle took some distance by flying upwards.

"Komachi! Use Pain Split!"

"Wriggle, Needle Arm, one more time! You can do it!"

"On it!" Wriggle made another downward charge, but this time emanating a light so bright that my vision was lost.

After I regained my vision, the first thing I saw was a much taller Wriggle flying. The second thing was a knocked out Komachi.

The two Star Sapphire raised their flags. "Komachi is unable to battle! The challenger has succeeded!"

Misty stared at the battlefield before suddenly falling to her knees, emanating a red-purple energy which quickly faded.

"What... what have I done...?"

The two Star Sapphire flew down and breathed a sigh of relief. "She finally returns to normal. All this is thanks to you."

"What happened to her?" Lanetta questioned the fairies.

"Well, everything was fine and we were renovating the training ground until that earthquake happened. After that, she suddenly became... cruel. She went overboard with previous challengers and even killed a few Wriggle they used."

Wriggle flew to my side upon hearing the news, holding Komachi with her.

"We think that we should try to comfort her about this."

And so, we approached Misty with Lanetta carrying the fainted Komachi in her arms.

"Misty, none of this is under your control. Don't think too much of it." Lanetta returned Komachi to her Trainer.

"But those Wriggle..." Misty cried and clutched her Komachi. "This innocent Komachi was the one who took their lives, all under my command..."

Komachi woke up and replied with only a smile.

"Komachi is mute." One of the Star Sapphire remarked. "Nitori had always tried to prevent the murders, but nobody listened to her."

"Komachi says she forgives you, Misty." Satori, who apparently couldn't resist saying all of Komachi's thoughts due to the fact, decided to say just one sentence.

Misty then took out something from her pocket. "This Cascade Badge is the only thing I can give to thank you."

She fastened the badge on Wriggle's shirt. "Congratulations for the feat, and also for your evolution."

Wriggle replied with a bow.

* * *

We went to the Center together. When Wriggle, Nitori, and Komachi were inside the treatment room, I decided to bring up the hat topic.

"About your hat, Lanetta... we have a new hat for you."

The previously ever-silent Keine suddenly turned frantic. "The hat is not with me anymore! What to do?"

Satori smiled. "Oh, you naughty Sanae. You took the hat so you can give it in person, right?"

She read my mind again! Well, I can't stop her from doing that...

Keine lashed out with a small sword. "You naughty shrine maiden!"

Seeing that, Satori stepped between Keine and me. "Hold on there. No need for violence. But Sanae, you owe Keine an explanation for it."

"..."

"I'm sorry for taking the hat while you were sleeping. It's just because I'm her first partner, I feel like the burden's on me to make her happy..."

Keine shrugged. "Well, that is satisfactory enough. But don't do it again. If it were the full moon..."

Misty only laughed at the quarrel. "I sure hope not, Keine."

"What happens if the full moon is up?" Lanetta questioned in confusion.

I answered her. "Keine grows horns. And her signature headbutt becomes crazy!"

Satori put a finger on my mouth. "Now, now, no exaggerating."

"She's not. It's true, Satori. We Keine lose control during the transformation." Keine looked at the ground.

"Then it's everyone's task to help Keine control it." Misty mentioned. The two Star Sapphire nodded in unison.

The bell of the Center then rang, indicating that everyone has finished the treatments. The now-taller-than-anyone-of-us Wriggle brought Nitori and Komachi on each arm.

"Yay, Misty's back!" Nitori jumped right onto Misty's lap. Komachi followed suit, taking care to aim her scythe away.

"We don't think we will fit in this sofa..." Wriggle became self-conscious upon seeing the small space left on the sofa we were sitting on.

Lanetta was about to say something when a voice interrupted her. "Are you by chance the Gym Leader?"

Misty looked toward the sound, which belonged to a boy. "Yes, you are correct. How can I help you?"

The boy replied. "May I challenge you?"

"Sure." Misty replied. "Well, Lanetta, I guess I have to go back to the Gym. See you!"

Misty, Nitori, Komachi, and the two Star Sapphire walked with the boy out of the Center.

"And so... I say we continue! The next city is Vermillion, south of here!" Lanetta spoke while putting on the previously neglected hat I gave her.

"Yeah!" Satori, Keine, and I jumped in unison. Wriggle just smiled.

After exchanging greetings with the nurse, we headed south from Cerulean. Lanetta directed us to a short cut from Cerulean to Vermillion, bypassing Saffron City.

A police stopped us before we entered the underpass from Cerulean to Vermilion, though.

"Trainers, please do not cross. Team Rocket is attacking Vermilion City."

"How is the situation, Sir?" Lanetta asked the policeman.

"We are on the verge of losing the fight. All exit points from Vermilion are being guarded."

"Then let me land a hand to the police inside!"

"No, Miss. The situation is too dangerous for young Trainers!"

Lanetta took out her laboratory access card. "I'm an assistant of Professor Oak. Please let me through!"

Upon seeing the card, the police allowed us access.

"Prepare for battle, girls." Lanetta gave us a warning shot.

Upon exiting the underpass, the first thing I saw was a man in army clothing fending off three Rocket Grunts. A chibi Iku was fighting against a chibi Rumia, chibi Kogasa, and chibi Hina.

"Iku, Thunder Wave!" The man commanded. The surge of electricity surrounded the Kogasa.

_Oh great, thunder. I need to watch out._

"Hina, Poison Jab!" One Grunt shouted back.

Lanetta rushed to the man while sending a command. "History, use Psybeam on the Hina!"

Keine launched a purple beam on the Hina, knocking her out.

"Lieutenant Surge! What is the situation?" Lanetta questioned the man.

"Team Rocket is trying to take over the Palanquin Ferry! Vermillion's defense was overpowered! I only have Iku left to defend!" the lieutenant answered.

"Surrender, Gym Leader of Vermilion City! You cannot win against us!" The Rocket Grunts threatened.

"What is the situation of the Puppet Center?" Lanetta asked the lieutenant again.

"The Center is clear. Guards are on high alert there."

"Well then. Wriggle, please take the lieutenant's other Puppets to the Center! We need all help we can get!"

"Roger!" After receiving two Miko Orbs, Wriggle buzzed to the Center.

"Well, that do we have here. That girl who messed up with the operations in Mount Moon, isn't it?" One Rocket Grunt taunted.

"Last time you succeeded, but this time will be different!" Another Rocket Grunt mentioned.

"We'll see!" Lanetta gestured for Satori, Keine, and me to come forward. "Satori, Mirror Shot on the Kogasa! Esoterica, Decision on the Rumia!"

I fired a yellow beam from my oonusa right onto the Rumia's face. She tried to outrun the beam, to no avail. As the beam struck the Rumia, she let out a scream before losing her consciousness.

Another beam flew across the battlefield, this time from Satori's hand mirrors. The Kogasa put her umbrella forward to absorb the brute of the attack, and she emerged relatively unscathed.

"I bet you'll hate my Kogasa. She'll give you a hard time!" One grunt, who was a woman, stood forward and gestured for her two male comrades to retreat.

"You forgot one thing." Lt. Surge spoke up. "Iku, Shock Wave!"

"Block it, Kogasa!"

This time, the Kogasa suddenly fell down while trying to block. Electric charges surrounded her. The shock wave hit her at point blank, causing her to lie flat on the ground.

"Thunder Wave! By golly, you're making us have a hard time. Shrug it off, Kogasa!" The Grunt angrily rasped.

"Now's the time to strike! Satori, History, Mirror Shot! Esoterica, Decision!"

"Iku, Shock Wave!"

The Kogasa sighed upon looking at the shower of beams approaching her and made no attempt to block. The Rocket Grunt was furious when the battle smoke cleared and revealed her knocked out Kogasa.

"You'll pay for this! The Palanquin Ferry will be ours!" The Grunt retreated to the ferry, which was on the Vermilion port.

"We have to chase her!" Lt. Surge remarked.

"Before you go to the ship, please recover your Miko Orbs!" Wriggle appeared behind them and returned the Miko Orbs to Lt. Surge.

"Thanks, mate!" Surge tossed the orbs to the air. "Shou, Luna Child, let's get our city back!"

a chibi Shou and a normal-style Luna Child emerged. The chibi Iku and Shou went into the Luna Child's arms, and they flew forth to the ferry.

"Wriggle, take the others with you! We'll catch up!" Lanetta ordered.

"On it!" Wriggle took Satori, Keine, and me up in the air. "Hold on tight!" She then zoomed at full speed.

We arrived at the ship, witnessing several policemen fighting with Rocket Grunts.

The police noticed the Luna Child. "Are you the Gym Leader's Luna Child?"

"I am." Luna Child answered.

"Then please go to the control room immediately! Stop the Rockets from kidnapping the captain!"

"We will." Luna Child landed on the deck. Wriggle followed suit.

All the chibi Puppets descended. Luna Child flew inside the ship, and we followed her lead.

In the control room were four Rocket Grunts fighting a sailorwoman. A chibi Lily Black, Rumia, Kogasa, and Nazrin were up against a chibi Murasa and an attack-style Murasa.

"Mina, use Shadow Punch on the Kogasa! That should do it! Murasa, Muddy Water!" The sailor commanded.

The evolved Murasa swamped the entire control room with a brown-tinged wave while the chibi Murasa swam through and punched the Kogasa.

After the wave cleared, we entered the control room proper and Luna Child spoke to the sailor.

"Captain Mina, the Gym Leader is on his way. He sent us to assist you."

"Okay then!" The captain answered.

We saw the enemy's condition. Kogasa and Nazrin were knocked out, while Rumia and Lily Black were still standing.

Two Grunts withdrew the knocked out Puppets. They sent out a chibi Medicine and normal-style Kisume in return.

"Here's the plan. Those with thunder powers, aim at the Kisume. Satori and Sanae, please hit the Rumia and Lily Black. Those Dark-types can't be damaged by my Murasa's Ghost attacks. Keine, please hit the Medicine." Captain Mina led the battle.

"Well, we won't make it easy for you! Kisume, Detect!"

"Rumia, Lily Black, use Faint Attack on the Keine!"

"Medicine, use Toxic Gas!"

Seeing that Kisume blocked all the thunder attacks, Luna Child shouted to the others. "Beware of the toxic gas! Cover your nose and mouth!"

"Keine will be knocked out if those Faint Attacks hit! Please hurry!" Captain Mina added upon seeing the two Dark-types racing towards Keine.

"Decision!" I fired an attack whilst keeping my nose and mouth covered. The beam hit the Lily Black just in time, knocking her out. However, the Rumia managed to land a hit on Keine before Satori's Mirror Shot connected. Fortunately, she went down to the Mirror Shot.

"Ah!" Keine flinched from the hit, causing her Psybeam to miss Medicine, who was still releasing toxic gas. She was exposed to the gas cloud, and her body gave off a purplish tint.

"Poison!" Captain Mina exclaimed.

"Hahaha! Think you can stop us now?" One Grunt bluffed while one withdrew her Rumia and retreated to the outside.

The Grunt's laugh was cut short when he saw his Medicine fall to the ground, with Wriggle beside her.

"We're sorry for the late action!"

"What?" The Grunt controlling the Medicine withdrew her Puppet and retreated. Another grunt looked disappointed, but a smug smile appeared on his face soon after. "Distract them! Kisume, use Screech!"

The other Grunt followed. "Lily Black, Faint Attack! Make that Keine suffer!"

Kisume scrapped the base of her bucket on the floor, creating a deafening sound all over the control room.

"Launch all your always-hit moves, everyone! Shock Wave and Decision, go!" Captain Mina shouted on top of her lungs to get the command to our ears.

I fired a Decision amidst the chaos. The beam swerved through all the Puppets there before finally hitting the Lily Black. Unfortunately, she was still standing and rammed Keine at point blank range.

The screech of the Kisume muted out Keine's scream as she fell to the ground unconscious.

_Keine!_

Just after, three waves of thunder struck the Kisume, stopping the screech. Kisume hid more of her face into her bucket.

The Lily Black landed beside the Kisume with a smirk. However, she suddenly collapsed. Behind her was Satori, with her hand mirrors.

"I couldn't land one hit. My apologies." Satori spoke as she pocketed her hand mirrors back.

"Gah! Lily Black, return!" One Grunt pointed a Miko Orb towards the Lily Black. He then retreated.

"We're not giving up yet! Kisume, Fire Spin! Aim at the Wriggle!" The remaining grunt held his ground.

"Don't let the attack hit! Luna Child, you're the fastest! Shock Wave!" Captain Mina's shout rang all over the control room.

"We'll add to the charge!" Shou and Iku fired a Shock Wave each to Luna Child, who proceeded to zap Kisume with her own Shock Wave. The extra power was sufficient to knock the Kisume out.

"Grr! You may escape this time, but we will back... we'll conquer even more valuable things!" The remaining Grunt withdrew Kisume and exited the control room. He was caught by the police right outside, however, with all other Grunts in the city.

Lanetta and Lt. Surge went into the control room afterwards. The captain exchanged salutes with them.

"Good work, pal! The captain was unharmed." Lt. Surge did a fist bump with Luna Child. Iku and Shou cheered.

"Nice job, everyone!" Lanetta approached us.

"Well, all's well that ends well. First, let's bring Keine to the Center. I could use some fresh air too." Captain Mina added to the conversation.

And so, we stepped out of the ferry and headed to the Center. While Keine and Captain Mina's two Murasa were being treated, we had a chat outside.

"Can you tell me the story from the beginning?" Lanetta begged for an explanation on the Rocket assault.

"We don't know either. The Palanquin Ferry stopped at the port according to schedule, then Rockets came out of nowhere." Lt. Surge shrugged.

"I heard some news that Saffron is tightening its guards. Could that be related to the Rockets?" Captain Mina added.

"Well, Sabrina also said that... maybe Rockets are having a lot of activities inside Saffron. But then, that means the Rockets have breached the Southern gate of Saffron." Lt. Surge contemplated.

"The Rockets weren't in sight in Cerulean, though..." Lanetta mentioned.

"Then there can only be one thing for sure. Cerulean isn't their target, and they would have nothing to do in Lavender Town." Captain Mina suddenly snapped her fingers. "Their next destination must be Celadon!"

"Yes, that's it! With the department store, the Rockets will surely be there to rob them!" Lt. Surge stood up. "I'll have to warn Erika about this."

Lt. Surge then took out a device with an official hologram on it. "Come on... please connect!"

A beep then sounded from the device. Lt. Surge immediately spoke to the device.

"Erika! It's me, Surge! Put the Celadon guards on alert! Rockets could be swarming from Saffron to Celadon any moment now!"

"The Rockets are on the move now, Surge! What's worse, they aren't from Saffron or anywhere! Their base is within Celadon itself!"

"Are you serious? Where on earth did they hide?"

"The previously shut-down Game Corner! I'd love to disclose more details, but it is not possible right now!"

"Never mind that! What is the situation?"

"We need reinforcements! There's no telling how many Grunts are inside Celadon!"

"I'll figure out something! Surge out!"

Another beep went out from the device. "I'll ask the police about reorganizing troops to Celadon."

Just then, a policeman rushed into the Center.

"Sir! Lavender Town is requesting for help! Mr. Fuji has been taken hostage by Team Rocket!"

"Mr. Fuji? Why would the Rockets want him?" Captain Mina was shocked.

"I don't know! Heck, this is getting even more confusing. What are they trying to achieve?" Lt. Surge burst in anger. "Arrange a troop to Lavender! Go through the water route!"

"I'll go with them to Lavender!" Lanetta stood up.

"No, Miss! This is not the situation you should be around!" The policeman spoke.

"Take her with you. She is Professor Oak's field assistant. You saw how her Puppets fought the Rockets, right?" Lt. Surge squelched the policeman.

"Very well. We will depart immediately."

Before we exited the center, Lt. Surge stopped us. "Take this as a token for Vermillion's gratitude. Be safe."

Lt. Surge put a Thunder Badge onto Lanetta's hands.

"Now go, and put an end to the Rockets' scheme. Until we meet again."

* * *

**A/N** Finally some more plot. After this chapter, Gym Badges will be given in the way Lt. Surge gives them. Incidents will be sprawling all over Kanto. (Now this is starting to get more Touhou-like, right?)

I wonder if Lt. Surge is really a lieutenant, though. Apologies for some OOC characters in the entire story. And remember Captain Mina, she'll come back someday.

Now to work on Purity so things will make a little more sense... (like in Purity, some antagonist figure is causing all these Rocket incidents to appear. How? That warrants a later explanation.)

Next: Lavender Town and freeing Mr. Fuji. Celadon too.


	7. Incidents Aren't Even 200 Yojanas Apart

The police marched through a planked road east of Vermilion City. We were in the center of the formation, being heavily guarded by officers marching in rows of five. Since we started off in the evening, the troops camped midway along the route for the night.

The next morning, at the end of a long walk was an open gate, with Rocket Grunts within sight.

"The Police has come! Troops, prepare!" The guarding Rockets announced.

A swarm of Rocket Grunts appeared in an instant, effectively blocking the gate.

All of the policemen, aside from the one beside us, sent out chibi Momijis to fight against the chibi Rumias and Hinas the Rockets tossed out.

"Direct the Rockets away from the gate!" One policeman beside us commanded. He seemed to be the chief of the police.

"Roger!" The two front rows roared in unison.

As the police pressed deeper into the town, more and more rows of policemen were dispatched to battle with the Rockets and open up a path to a tower.

"Mr. Fuji usually is in the Tower of White Jade. It would seem unlikely for the Rockets to keep him hostage there, but there is no other place to hide for them. Besides, in front of the tower are rows of Rockets. Will it be worth it to search the tower?" The police chief questioned Lanetta.

"I would say yes, based on the number of Rockets in front of the entrance. To think they would defile this sacred resting place..." Lanetta answered.

_A resting place? Don't tell me this is a graveyard..._

Satori held a laugh. "Oh, you silly Sanae. Don't tell me you don't like graveyards."

"Satori!" I slapped her shoulder.

"Now, now, no fighting. Before the incident which brought forth Puppets, this was a tower where Trainers laid the body of their Pokémon. It looks like a graveyard, but nothing should be ominous about it. Though with all the ruckus here, I don't know if anything has changed." Lanetta stood between Satori and me.

Our attention soon turned to a call.

"Stay on high alert! We're breaching into the Tower of White Jade!" The chief police commanded the remaining four rows, which were located in front and behind us.

"We won't let you pass!" Clusters of Rocket Grunts surrounded the police rows.

"Remaining rows, clear a path! We'll press into the Tower!" With a shout, the remaining rows scattered and left the entrance of the path clear. The howls of Momiji rang throughout the town.

As the chief and us entered the white tower, an ominous atmosphere surrounded us. No Rocket Grunts were in sight, however.

"It would be very long if we were to climb the floors one by one. But that seems to be our only choice." The chief police spoke to Lanetta.

"In that case..." Wriggle rose to the scene. "I'll scout ahead of you!"

Wriggle then zoomed at full speed to the stairs, vanishing from our sight. Shortly after, however, she appeared, falling down from above to the base of the stairs which we were about to take.

"Wriggle! What happened?" Lanetta inspected her body, which appeared to be cut.

"A Youmu up there... her Steel-type attacks are tough..." Wriggle slowly stood up.

The policeman readied his Miko Orb. "Momiji, please assist us!"

A defense-style Momiji landed on the stairs. Soon after, the sound of clashing swords was heard as Momiji parried a Puppet from above.

"Leave this place at once!"

The sound came from a chibi Youmu, drawing both of her swords to the battle. This Youmu was, for some reason, different from other Youmu.

_I don't know what the difference is, but I can definitely sense it._

Momiji tried to converse with Youmu. "We are from the police force. We are here to free Mr. Fuji."

"No human may ascend this Tower!" Youmu took on a battle stance. "You humans are bringers of destruction!"

Momiji prepared to charge at the small Youmu when Satori let out a shout.

"Halt, Momiji!"

Both Momiji and the Youmu looked confused.

"Youmu, I can see that the Rockets have taken your mentor, Mr. Fuji, hostage. Please do not worry. We are here to free him." Satori continued.

Youmu suddenly fell to her knees, with her swords making a loud clang as she released her grip. To our surprise, she cried.

"I can't protect Mr. Fuji..."

Momiji tried to approach the poor Youmu, but she stepped back.

"I'm such a worthless Puppet who can't even protect this tower as the sole Youmu in it..."

Youmu then picked her swords up and ran upstairs, still crying.

"We have to approach her without violence. This incident has become a permanent trauma for her." Satori began to coordinate a strategy.

Keine then picked up something from where Youmu stood and brought it to us.

"Youmu left a paper. Let me read it... wait... Hell Realm Sword '200 Yojana in One Slash'?"

"What's wrong with it, Keine?" I questioned her.

"This is Youmu's spell card." Keine answered. "With the incident you described to me in mind... there's a high possibility we have to recruit this Youmu."

The police interrupted us after a long period of silence. "Does that mean we should proceed with the Youmu by not dealing damage?"

"That is the best course of action. We need to also make sure that she doesn't get caught in battles between us and the Rocket Grunts." Satori replied.

"Very well then, let us march." The chief police and Momiji led the way.

On the third floor, Rocket Grunts have blocked the way to the next flight of stairs.

"Surrender at this instant! You are outnumbered!" Six Rocket Grunts, each taking out two Miko Orbs, insisted.

"It is you who will surrender! Momiji, battle position!" The chief policeman ordered.

"Prepare for battle, girls!" Lanetta instructed us to come forward.

"Come at us!" Twelve rays rained down the tower, revealing three chibi Nazrin, four chibi Rumia, two chibi Kogasa, and three chibi Hina.

Seeing the number of the Puppets, the chief police took out another Miko Orb. "Hatate, please assist us!"

A chibi Hatate came out and flew high on the battlefield.

"We'll start first! Rumia, Faint Attack! Aim on the Keine!" One male Grunt opened the battle.

"Kogasa, Powder Snow!" Another male Grunt continued.

"It's snowing~!" The two Kogasa danced together whilst scattering snow across our field of sight.

"Esoterica, Decision on the Rumia!" Lanetta instructed. "Wriggle, Needle Arm! Likewise, History, Satori, Mirror Shot! Reduce the damage History would take as much as possible!"

"Momiji, Crush Claw on the Kogasa! Hatate, Whirlwind! Dispel the snow!"

A strong wind then blew, pushing all the snow away. Momiji dashed to slash one Kogasa, creating an impactful dust cloud.

The four Rumia flew to Keine, with one taking a Needle Arm in the face from Wriggle.

"Waah!" The hit Rumia flinched to the side.

Two bright beams and a yellow beam I fired soon swerved to the Rumia. Decision hit, as usual, but one Rumia dodged the Mirror Shot and hit Keine with a ram, emanating black energy.

"A critical hit!" Lanetta gritted her teeth. "History! Can you still fight?"

"No worries, Lanetta!" Keine stood up.

The dust cloud Momiji created revealed a knocked out Kogasa.

"Return, Kogasa!" One female Grunt took out a Miko Orb. "Hina, Toxic Gas! All of you! Nazrin, Bite on the Sanae!"

"History, Psybeam on the Hina! Esoterica, Razor Wind on the Nazrin! it will also disperse the gas! Satori, Mirror Shot on the Nazrin! Wriggle, Needle Arm on the Nazrin!"

"Hatate, fire another Razor Wind to the Nazrin! Momiji, Crush Claw on the Hina! Watch out for the toxic gas!"

Hatate and I spun to release blade-like wind, dispersing the toxic gas and slicing the Nazrin hard. Wriggle proceeded to knock one Nazrin out with Needle Arm, while Satori's Mirror Shot took another down. One Nazrin did bite me, though.

"Hmm? You're the Sanae I bit on Mt. Moon, right? I apologize for biting you again." The Nazrin bowed after releasing my arm.

"Wait, why?" I asked her.

"I can't fight my Trainer, still. They kept asking me to hurt innocent Puppets." She replied.

Two Rocket Grunts returned their Nazrin into their respective Miko Orbs.

"Nazrin, what are you doing there? Get back here!" One male Grunt yelled at the Nazrin who spoke to me.

"No." Nazrin replied with a stare.

"You little..." The Grunt came forward, picked up his Nazrin by the ears, and left the battle. "You guys take care of my Rumia. I'm going to discipline this Nazrin."

"Let me go!" Nazrin was certainly hurt by the way she was carried. She tried to kick the Grunt, to no avail.

"Nazrin!" The Rumia who took a Needle Arm rushed to the walking Grunt.

"Faint Attack!" She then attacked her Trainer, releasing Nazrin. "I won't let you hurt her!"

To our surprise, the other Rumia surrounded that Grunt. The Hina stopped spinning, and together with the lone Kogasa, they followed the Rumia.

"What's going on?" The Rocket Grunts were shocked. They immediately engaged in a quarrel.

"No wonder you got demoted from a higher Grunt rank! Such a troublesome Nazrin you have!"

"Hey, she's the one who spells trouble! Don't blame it on me!"

Seeing the ruckus, Lanetta and the chief police gestured us to keep moving up. The upper floors were clear, and we finally arrived at the summit and hid behind a pillar to observe the situation.

On the summit, we saw an old man in chains, being guarded by three Rocket Grunts. One Rocket Grunt was questioning him.

"Where can we find strong Puppets? Answer me!"

The old man simply sighed. "Young man, strength is not all there is to Puppets. Why do you seek power?"

"Because Team Rocket wants to gain power! After that, we'll be unstoppable!"

The Youmu we encountered before suddenly appeared and slashed the questioning Grunt's legs with her sword.

_Wow, I know Youmu are fast, but where did she hide? It looked like she just teleported._

"Ack!" The Grunt flinched in pain, lifting his leg up. He fell soon after.

"Release Mr. Fuji at once!" Youmu shouted at the Rocket Grunts, pointing her swords at them.

"Heh, you again? What a pathetic Puppet." One Grunt smirked.

"Whatever, you're useless. You'll meet your end here!" The other Grunt tossed a Miko Orb, revealing a chibi Nazrin.

Youmu took on a battle stance. However the Grunt that fell stood up and stretched Youmu's arms to her limit.

"Heh, this is for attacking me. You'll be gone!"

"Ugh! Let me go!" Youmu struggled to break free from the Grunt's grasp, but his grip was too strong that Youmu lost the strength to hold her swords. They fell with a loud clang to the floor.

"We can't let him torture her like this. Wriggle, use Quick Attack on the Rocket Grunt." Lanetta whispered.

Wriggle flew without a sound at high speed, colliding with the Grunt's back with such an impact that a crack was heard.

_Gosh, I think the Grunt's back broke._

"Agh!" The hit Grunt released Youmu and fell to the ground, with Wriggle flying upwards and showing herself in front of the Rockets.

"Intruders!" The other Rocket Grunts exclaimed. One of them took a Miko Orb and sent out a normal-style Hina.

"Come forth, Momiji and Hatate!"

"Let's go, girls!" Lanetta picked the unconscious Youmu and her swords up and took her to safety.

Satori, Keine, and I jumped forward, along with Momiji.

"Hina, Poison Bomb on the Satori!"

"Nazrin, Bite the Sanae!"

_Here we go again. Am I that delicious?_

"Momiji, Crush Claw on the Hina! Hatate, Razor Wind on the Nazrin!"

"Wriggle, Air Slash on the Hina! Esoterica, Water Pulse on the Nazrin! History, Psybeam on the Hina!" A flurry of orders came from Lanetta as she put back Youmu's swords into their respective sheaths.

The flurry of attacks knocked the opposing Puppets down in one hit.

"You have been cornered! Now surrender!" The chief police stepped forward.

"No! Team Rocket will never surrender to the likes of you!"

"Heed what he says, young men. You need to learn about how power is used before the power will come to you." The man in chains spoke softly.

The Rockets looked at the old man and sighed. "Fine. We'll give in."

Lanetta moved to the back of the old man while the police captured the Rocket Grunts (including the one on the floor) and brought them downstairs. She placed Youmu to the side.

"Wriggle, Air Slash. Esoterica, Razor Wind. We'll break this chain."

Wriggle and I fired blades of wind and successfully broke the chain. Lanetta released the chains from the man.

"Mr. Fuji! What has happened? Why did they capture you?" Lanetta questioned.

"They came into the tower when I was training Youmu, three of them. They suddenly asked where they could get Puppets with power."

"Why would they ask that, sir?" I continued.

"Well, I have no idea either. But they continued and began asking me where to get the Hourai."

"The Hourai?" Keine suddenly spoke up, much to our surprise.

"Yes. The three Puppets of immortality: Eirin, Kaguya, and Mokou. I don't know why they wanted them, but I was determined not to tell them where they can be found."

"It seems that there is more to the story..." Wriggle mumbled.

"There is, young Wriggle. The ones who first questioned me were different than the ones captured here. They proceeded to attack me. To me and Youmu's surprise, they took out exactly one each of the Hourai." Mr. Fuji then paused and looked at Youmu.

"Youmu tried to defend me with her attacks. She managed to knock Kaguya and Eirin out using her Ghost attacks, but Mokou was one tough opponent due to her Fire typing. Then.."

"The Rocket Grunts were impatient. They ordered the Mokou to activate her power and finish Youmu off. Is that the next part of the story, sir?" Satori, who apparently read Mr. Fuji's mind, continued.

"Yes, that was the case. However, to our surprise, the Mokou refused."

"Wait, what? How did that happen, Mr. Fuji?" Lanetta was as surprised as ever.

I suddenly felt like my vision was lost.

_Don't tell me..._

Then a flash of light surrounded my field of vision. The light faded to show the Tower summit, with Mr. Fuji and Youmu on one side and three Rocket Grunts on the other side. A Mokou was seen standing in front of the Rocket Grunt, with a knocked out Kaguya and Eirin nearby.

"Youmu, brace yourself..." Mr. Fuji muttered.

"It's time to end this! Mokou, activate your power and finish the Youmu off!" One Rocket Grunt commanded.

The Mokou turned to face the Grunt, surprising Youmu and Mr. Fuji.

"No. As much as you would torture me and the others, I will never use the Power of Eternal to fulfill the desires of such evil people as you."

"Why you...!" The Grunt was angry.

The two other Grunts, upon seeing Youmu and Mr. Fuji being disarmed, proceeded to tie Mr. Fuji to the post behind him.

"Success!" The two Grunts exclaimed happily.

Their happiness was cut short, however, as Mokou fired a burst of flame right at their face.

"You little... Whatever, our mission is complete. Let's return, guys!"

The Rocket Grunt held the Mokou tight and ran towards the stairs. The two others soon followed after returning their Puppets to their Miko Orbs.

A faint sound was heard as the first Grunt descended the stairs.

"Forgive me, Youmu..."

Youmu tried to give chase, but soon collapsed a few meters in front of Mr. Fuji.

* * *

Then I found myself at another blackout, and I blinked. Upon opening my eyes, I saw Lanetta and the others again.

"Sanae, is everything okay? You were spaced out." Wriggle nudged me.

Mr. Fuji approached me. "You have the Bright Vision Stars, yes? Tell me what you saw."

Lanetta and the others listened in awe as I explained all I saw to them.

"Hmm... that is very much true." Mr. Fuji nodded in affirmation.

"Would you explain the "power" that the Rocket Grunt mentioned, sir?" I asked him.

I caught Keine twitching with the corner of my eye, but I shrugged it off. _I'll ask her later._

"He is referring to Mokou's Power of Eternal, one of the most feared powers in the entire Puppet universe. You might not know about it because you have never met a Mokou in person, and that is fine. However, it is imperative that Puppets understand this power."

"What does this power serve, Mr. Fuji?" Lanetta chimed in.

"It makes defeating Mokou even harder, considering that fighting one of the Hourai is not easy in the first place." Mr. Fuji picked Youmu up. "This Youmu has done her best to protect me from those powerful Puppets, but I fear that this will scar her mind permanently."

Youmu then woke up slowly.

"...Mr. Fuji..."

"Youmu, you have done well."

Youmu was surprised when she looked at us. "What... are you still doing here...? Go..."

She tried to attack us, but she soon fell to her knees.

"Youmu, stop. They are the one who drove the Rockets away." Mr. Fuji persuaded the Youmu.

"Really...?" Youmu then bowed to us. "Thank you for freeing Mr. Fuji."

"You are welcome, Youmu." Lanetta bowed back in return.

"Mr. Fuji... what should I do to repay them...?" Youmu turned to her mentor.

"Youmu, you shall follow them in their travels. You will learn a lot of the world and repay them that way."

"But... who will be here to protect you, Mr. Fuji?"

"The Prismriver Puppets will be in the tower for me. Rest your worries at ease, Youmu." Mr. Fuji then looked at Lanetta.

"She has no owner. Please use a Miko Orb, and take care of her for me."

Lanetta proceeded to capture the Youmu. "And for a proper introduction... welcome to the team! My name is Lanetta."

"Lanet... How do you say that again?" Youmu seemed too have trouble with pronouncing Lanetta's name.

"It's Lanetta. However, if it is too hard, Lan will suffice."

"Ok!" Youmu beamed her smile to us.

_Now I know why she is so different. She has this otherworldly charm. And that bob hair... it's longer than the average Youmu, and it makes her really cute..._

"Before you leave, Lanetta, I have a message for you." Mr. Fuji added while we prepared for our leave.

"What is it?"

"We have been talking about one of the most fearsome power present in this world. However, do not fear or oppose it. Powers certainly have their justifications."

"I will, Mr. Fuji." Lanetta then bowed to him. "I have to continue to Celadon. Please take care."

"Until we meet again." Mr. Fuji replied.

We went downstairs and met the chief police.

"Thank you for the assistance, miss. We have captured all the Rocket Grunts in Lavender Town."

"You are welcome. Mr. Fuji has been freed, too."

"Where are you going next, miss?"

"I will head to Celadon. There are more Rocket Grunts there."

"We apologize because we have to take these Grunts to the station, and we cannot accompany you."

"That is not a problem. Until we meet again."

We headed to the Puppet Center.

"All right, girls, you've all done well." Lanetta proceeded to leave us with the nurse, and all of us went to the treatment room. Satori, Keine, and I were in one room, while Wriggle and Youmu were in another room.

While we were being treated for the battle injuries, I decided to bring the Keine topic in my mind.

"Say, Keine, you twitched when we talked about the power. What is it you're hiding?"

Keine covered her face. "It's nothing..."

Satori shook her head, indicating that there was more to what Keine has to say.

"What is it?" I kept pressing on. I moved closer towards Keine.

"No... don't talk about this..." In self-defense, Keine launched a sword to me, only to hit one of the Eirin taking care of us. It hit right at her body, causing her to fall down.

Upon realizing the attack, Keine became even more sensitive.

"I'm sorry..."

Satori put her finger on my lips. "Now, now, she doesn't want to talk about it. Leave her be." She proceeded to help the wounded Eirin back up.

After the Eirin finished their treatments on us, they silently helped their friend while we bid farewell in silence. Keine rushed to exit the room, with Satori and I behind her.

"Don't bring that topic up again until I tell you to do so." Satori warned me.

"Why?"

"So that we won't break her already-broken heart once more."

I just nodded silently._ What did Satori know that I don't? I'm so curious!_

We greeted Lanetta, who was eager as ever. Wriggle and Youmu have finished earlier, and with the full team assembled, we went to the dining hall (as always). It was late in the evening, so we had to get our fill.

And of course, we checked into a room and took turns for the shower. How I love to get myself clean!

Lanetta then briefed us about the operation to Celadon next morning.

"We'll get to Celadon using the underpass from Lavender. The Rockets are said to be hiding in the previous Game Corner. Erika mentioned battling a lot of them, but the building should not be able to house more than 30 people."

"It may be they have underground floors or multiple stories..." Youmu mentioned. "If you can't get horizontal space, try vertical space."

"Well, it's a one-floor building. Never thought about underground floors, though. That might be what's happening." Lanetta shrugged. "in any case, we cannot afford the Rockets wreaking more havoc in the city. The police force will be there, but they cannot simply defeat every Grunt in the city."

"And that means we'll be fighting with full power from the start?" Satori polished her hand mirrors.

"Please don't take my sentences!" Lanetta complained. Satori just smiled.

"My apologies. That's fine by me, though."

"And that concludes this tactical meeting. Have a good night!" Lanetta closed.

Then it was lights off for us.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see Youmu combing her hair. The other were still tucked on the beds.

_Wait, she's even earlier than me?_

_Well, never mind. I still get to shower to my heart's content!_

After everyone was actually awake (hell, Lanetta's one real boulder to wake up) and prepared, we set off to Celadon.

Not one abnormal thing caught our attention as we exited Lavender Town and went to the entrance of an underpass, and even inside the underpass itself. It was just like a normal tunnel with walkways and lights on the ceiling.

However, as we exited the underpass, furious battles greeted our eyes. A lot of police officers battled an equal number of Rocket Grunts, with clangs of steel blades and purple mist everywhere.

One police took notice of us. "Miss, the Gym Leader wishes for your assistance. I will escort you to her."

He left his Puppets under the care of his fellow police as he escorted us into the city proper, holding a Miko Orb at hand. At last, a young black-haired woman wearing a kimono was seen commanding a chibi Yuuka and an attack-style Minoriko.

"Please converse with the Gym Leader regarding your next strategy." The police then took his leave.

"Lanetta, isn't it? Come, let's barge into the Game Corner together!" The woman in the kimono called out.

"Yes, Erika!" Lanetta approached her.

The Rocket Grunts fixed their eyes on Lanetta. "You again? Why do you keep interfering with our plans?"

Lanetta simply responded. "Because... I'm actually part of the League, you know? What comes into mind when you hear the term 'Professor's assistant', you Rockets who couldn't even think?"

"Who are you calling us? You'll pay for that, you little girl!" The guys were especially angry.

"On the count of three..." Lanetta took a deep breath.

Before she even started her countdown, we fired our attacks in an instant, knocking out the Rocket Grunts, who didn't have Puppets.

"Now's our chance to get in!" Lanetta and Erika shouted together, prompting all of the Puppets to get into an old, unkempt looking building with a neon lamp over it in the shape of a diamond. They proceeded to run into it as well.

We were surrounded by Rumias and Hinas (all chibi) and of course... Rocket Grunts. Well, male ones who would think that our two Trainers would not stand a chance.

"Come forth! The Gym Leader has breached the base!" One Grunt yelled.

A flurry of Grunts came out from stairs which seemed to lead to an underground floor.

"Wow, Youmu, your intuition is sharp." Lanetta glanced at the staircase, then at Youmu.

"It's because of living in a tower myself, I would say." Youmu softly replied. She took some distance from Erika, preferring to place herself beside Wriggle, who was in the very front of our formation.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Attack them!" All Grunts yelled, prompting the Rumias, Hinas, and Kogasas to attack.

"Here's the plan. Rumias and Kogasas use contact moves, while Hinas spin at the back to spread poison. Please hit the Hinas because my Puppets are clearly disadvantaged against them. I will take care of the Rumias and Kogasas." Erika whispered.

"Got it." Lanetta nodded in understanding.

Erika proceeded to take out two more Miko Orbs. "I've never been cornered like this before. Well, it's for protecting Celadon. Come, Daiyousei, Shizuha!"

An attack-style Daiyousei and helper-style Shizuha landed gracefully on the battlefield.

"Oh, I just realized you've been training the bounty of nature yourself. A fine normal-style Wriggle there."

"And a very tough one, I would say." Lanetta replied.

"Well, girls, this battle's going to be a little different. Esoterica, History, Youmu, you scout forward and hit the Hinas. Prevent them from spreading poison. Wriggle, Satori, stay here and clear the incoming waves of Faint Attacks and Bubblebeams."

"Likewise, we'll clear the Rumias and Kogasas here." Erika gestured her Puppets to create a formation.

"Make sure you cover all the Hinas!" Lanetta added.

"We got it!" I replied as I flew together with Keine and Youmu. Keine charged what appears to be a Zen Headbutt. Youmu took out her swords, which emanated ghostly wisps from them. I myself prepared small orbs of water.

When we reached about combat distance from the Hina, Lanetta fired. "All right! Esoterica, Water Pulse! History, Zen Headbutt! Youmu, Shadow Hit!"

"Yuuka, Bullet Seed! Minoriko, Shizuha, Daiyousei, Energy Light, all of you! Rumias may use Faint Attack, but this will hurt their sensitive eyes!"

"Wriggle, Air Slash! Satori, Mirror Shot!"

The entire building turned into a war scene as all Puppets fired their attacks at once. First came the blades of air which could be felt even from my position, which was quite far from Wriggle. Then Youmu swept down five Hinas at one go using her blades, dealing critical hits on each and knocking them out. Next came the orbs of water which I had prepared. Those hit the entire Hina group, confusing them.

The confused Hinas tried to spin and create toxic gas, only for them to be swept by Keine using Zen Headbutt. Since Keine has a type advantage against the Hinas, all Hinas hit by her were instantly knocked out. The few Hinas who managed to dodge tried to spin but produced little to no mist.

However, none of us prepared for what would happen afterward: the entire room soon shone in white from the Energy Light fired simultaneously, with the sound of seeds hitting foes like a barrage and a beam sound from Satori's Mirror Shot heard for a brief moment.

As I regained my vision, I saw several Kogasa and Rumia who were still standing, along with three Hina. All the others were on the ground.

The Rockets panicked upon seeing the result, which, in my opinion, looked like a bloody battlefield. I felt pity for all the knocked out Puppets.

_That's why I have to help in stopping these Rocket people!_

"We're losing it!" Several Grunts yelled.

"No choice-we have to use that weapon!"

All of the rockets suddenly emanated the red-purple glow like the one Misty did and took out what looked like a spray bottle. Suddenly, my vision turned white.

_Not now!_

I regained my vision only to see a glimpse of the spray bottle they fired on me. It had a cockroach with an X sign on it, and a Z sign beside it. Then my vision changed into one in which I was beside Wriggle, who closed her eyes after exchanging words of farewell.

Then I saw all white before I snapped back into reality, right when the Rocket Grunts activated their sprays all at once.

"Lanetta! Put Wriggle in! They're firing ins-"

My sentence was cut short as I lost my consciousness.

* * *

I woke up to see all the Puppets and Rocket Grunts gone. Right after I woke up, Youmu and Keine rose to consciousness as well.

"Wriggle!" I rushed to the place where Wriggle lied, with Youmu and Keine beside me.

As I tried to wake Wriggle up, Lanetta rose to consciousness.

"What... were you trying to say, Esoterica? I couldn't hear it..."

As the others woke up, I helped Lanetta stand up. "They fired insect repellent in combination with sleeping gas! I had a vision in which... Wriggle..."

Lanetta immediately returned Wriggle into her Miko Orb and ran outside the building. Youmu followed her.

"Lanetta! Wait!" Erika stood up.

"Esoterica, History, Satori, you stay here with Erika. Please check on the basement before you leave!" Lanetta's shout was faintly heard.

We then followed Erika's lead and inspected the basement. As we examined all the nooks and crannies of the floor, we found nothing. The Rockets have deserted the place completely.

Then we exited the building proper, being greeted with the sight of the sun high on the sky and Rocket Grunts being handcuffed by police officers. We rushed into the Puppet Center.

As battle-wounded as we were, the first thing we approached was a waiting Lanetta and Youmu. "How is she?" I opened.

"I'm still waiting. I don't know..." Lanetta somberly answered.

"Lanetta, may I have your attention, please?" The Nurse called for us.

Nurse Ei led us into an intensive treatment room with Wriggle on the bed and numerous chibi Eirin working in the room. We circled around the bed she was on.

"Everyone..." That was the first thing Wriggle spoke after opening her eyes slowly.

"Wriggle... you'll survive..." Lanetta held her hand.

"Even if I don't... I have no regrets... I was not born strong, anyway..." To our surprise, Wriggle replied.

"I lack power compared to any other Wriggle... you just have never seen others fight to compare with me... I trained hard to be at their level..."

"I realize full well that I will survive, but this battle is my last battle..."

Lanetta was shocked. "You can't be joking..."

"I'm not... I may not battle with you anymore, but I'll still be rooting for you..." Wriggle smiled faintly.

"Stop... stop it..." Satori suddenly burst out, holding her head with both hands.

"Satori! Is everything okay?" Lanetta rushed to her side. one Eirin also came to her aid.

"Too many thoughts... overwhelming emotions..." Satori replied faintly. "I can't... restrain them..."

Then Satori radiated a bright light similar to what happened in Cerulean Gym.

"Its the light of evolution..." The Eirin beside her remarked.

After my vision was momentarily lost, I saw Satori, who was taller than Lanetta, standing in place of the suffering satori.

"What... just... happened...?" Lanetta looked in confusion.

"That is a rite of passage for a Satori Puppet. Usually overwhelming thoughts struck them before evolution, which is caused by their increasing sensitivity to thoughts. They gain better control during evolution, so it won't be a problem to them. Congratulations!" The Eirin explained.

"yay for satori..." The half-alive Wriggle still tried to cheer us up.

"She should be able for discharge tomorrow. For now, we are doing our best to stabilize her." Another Eirin told Lanetta.

We exited the room after exchanging words of gratitude with the Eirin, only to have Erika's chibi Yuuka scatter petals on us.

"Lanetta, right? Please follow me."

She led us to the ever-smiling Gym Leader. "How is Wriggle?" She cheerfully inquired.

"She will be free tomorrow, if things are going smoothly." Lanetta mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Don't be so sad. Oh, by the way, did you forget to check your Puppets in?" She looked at my battle wounds, which were practically still there.

"Oh right! I forgot!" Lanetta approached the nurse to get Youmu, Satori, Keine, and I to the treatment room.

"When you're waiting, let's go to the Department Store for some refreshing drinks!" Erika dragged Lanetta to the exit. Her Yuuka facepalmed, but followed anyways.

All of us were in the same treatment room, with quite a lot of Puppets due to the Rocket assault and whatnot causing civilian casualties as well. Neither of us spoke a word during the entire treatment process. We didn't suffer from much damage anyways, so in a few ticks of the clock we were out.

Lanetta and Erika were waiting for us with a bag full of cold lemonade cans and bottles of spring water and mind-blowing soda pop. Each one of us picked one drink, and we laid ourselves on a large carpet set on the floor to accommodate the high numbers of Trainers waiting for their Puppets due to the Rocket attack.

_But for some reason, lying down on this carpet with a can of lemonade in your hand is... comforting._

"Now all that's set, I'll contact Sabrina and Surge." Erika took out the same device Surge used to call. "But before that..."

She placed a badge on Lanetta's hands. "This is for helping Celadon. The Rainbow Badge."

"That leaves four more badges for you, right? Though I'm not sure if any one of the Leaders will battle you before they give their badge. The League has been in sort of an unexplainable crisis, and everyone's been wagering their Puppets against Rockets." Erika went away in her story.

Her machine then beeped. "Surge in. What did you call me for?"

"Surge, Celadon is under control."

"Oh, good. Make sure you contact Sabrina too."

"I will. Erika out."

"Now that's one call done. Now to call Sabrina." I saw Lanetta sipping on her bottle of soda pop while Erika proceeded to dial this person named Sabrina. A beep started their call. From the sound of it, I think this Sabrina is Saffron's Gym Leader.

"Erika in. How is Saffron looking? Celadon is stable now."

"That's good. And by the way, Erika, do you still have some reinforcements? The Rockets here are trying to breach out. The police has done a good job and I have been reinforcing exit barriers with my psychokinesis, but Koga's been warning me that Fuchsia has been attacked as well."

"Koga? Don't tell me that some of them sneaked out through the Cycling Road..." Erika sighed. "Those Rockets robbed the Cerulean bike shop, I guess?"

Lanetta chimed in. "I didn't see a bike shop in Cerulean last time I was there. I do saw a destroyed building, though."

"That could be the robbed bike shop. Oh, are you by chance the Professor's assistant? Would you mind coming over to Saffron?" Sabrina spoke through the line.

"Sure. We'll be moving right away." Lanetta answered.

"Oh, no need. Just put all your Puppets in your Miko Orbs and I'll teleport you." Sabrina mentioned.

"Hold on, Lanetta! How about Wriggle?" Erika chimed in. "Sabrina, she is still waiting for her Wriggle to recover in the Celadon Puppet Center."

"Oh right, I forgot about her!" Lanetta facepalmed.

"Is that so...? Hmm... Erika, try asking the nurse if she can place the Wriggle on her PC account after she recovers. I need all the help I can get.

"On it. I'll put the call on standby for a moment." Erika then questioned the nurse and returned to the call.

"She gave me the clearance. Lanetta and everyone, are you ready?" Erika answered Sabrina and turned to us, the relaxing Puppets. All of us stood up.

Lanetta then withdrew all of us into our Miko Orbs.

When Lanetta sent us out again, I was in a purple-tinged building with a woman floating in front of us. She wore white trousers and a purple tank top.

"So, let us chat in a place free from the Rocket distraction." The woman spoke.

"Very well, Sabrina. Fill me in." Lanetta replied.

_So this is Sabrina._

"What the Rockets are trying to take over is Silph Co. However, I do not know their motives."

"You could just read their mind..." Lanetta complained.

"I could, but their minds were filled with random nonsense and no important information."

"That's what Rockets have been thinking this entire time." Satori added to the conversation.

I listened to the conversation intently until my vision turned white again.

I proceeded to see a big building on fire, with people running rampant and even jumping off the windows.

After that, the image disappeared, and my vision was pitch black until I heard a peculiar sound.

_The princess of the moon who connects the seas with the mountains..._

I blinked and reality came back to me. _Just what is that building?_

"Bright Vision Stars, isn't it? Tell me about it." Sabrina asked me.

"A big building with a lot of people and Rocket Grunts was on fire."

Sabrina was shocked. "Could it be..."

Just then, a man wearing official referee attire appeared behind us.

"Leader Sabrina! The Gym has been set on fire!"

"Fire?" We were shocked.

"We have to make haste." Sabrina teleported all of us in an instant.

The city was in flames, with civilians running rampant. No Rockets were in sight, however.

"The Rockets must be in Silph Co. We need to hurry!" Sabrina led us.

Our path was blocked, however, when the fighting dojo beside the Gym collapsed, spewing its rubble all over the path...

* * *

**A/N** Yay for Mr. Fuji as lorekeeper. I couldn't think of any other role he would play besides this, forgive me XD

More plot. And yes, in the previous notes I mentioned that Mokou's power will be tossed around frequently in the story. I couldn't help it; Mokou is one hell of a lovable character. (She's my favorite XD)

Erika here reminds me of a character with the same name from Shadowverse (an online card game), but the Erika there is very different in that she looks and fights like Youmu! XD

About Keine... let's just say that she has had an encounter with Mokou before. More details will unfold as the plot progresses.

On a side note, while reading Purity is not required to understand the powers and whatnot, it might help in comprehending some of the lore in this story. (Once again, it's not required! ^^) On a side note, I am progressing a lot in the original story, so an update of Purity should be ready in the first days of February.


End file.
